
Intimate Knowledge of G‑d
Compassion Toward People
Splendor in Mind and Heart
Avodah
On Wed, Mar 26, 2025 at 06:24:50AM +0200, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote: > If you are walking down the street in Jerusalem, passing by a construction > site where [...]
Note to presenter Enjoyed your piece on the trolley problem, it?s something I?ve thought a lot about over the years. A couple of comments: One of the things I?ve thought [...]
If you are walking down the street in Jerusalem, passing by a construction site where an arab worker is speaking on the telephone facing you and 3 feet past him [...]
On Mon, Mar 24, 2025 at 10:15:30PM -0400, Yonatan Kaganoff via Avodah wrote: > According to the Rambam in Hilchos Klei ha-Mikdash ve-ha-Ovdim Bo 2:13: ... > When [the Levites] [...]
According to the Rambam in *Hilchos Klei ha-Mikdash ve-ha-Ovdim Bo* (???? ????, ????? ??? ????? ???????? ??) 2:13: ????????????????? ?????? ??? ???????? ?????????? ??????? ???????? ??????? ????????????? ?????? ?????????? ????????. [...]
RMB: > I don't know what he would do with a kezayis. Would he follow R Chaim > Volozhiner, because the nearest thing to a subjective olive is using > [...]
I had the opportunity to take in the Robert Zimmerman/Bob Dylan Movie ?a complete unknown?. (We can discuss going to movies in general, and those with music or inappropriate behavior, [...]
Note to a magid shiur who said that in the workplace one should see dmut yokno shel rabo and ask his advice: Just wanted to note that dmut dyokno kpshuto [...]
Blogs
- YGB - יג"ב
- Aspaqlaria
- Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
- | Modern Uberdox
Occasionally I feel it is appropriate to showcase one of Zohar Al Pi Pshat segments. This is one of those.The Distinctions, Union & Symbiosis of Day & Night, Light & Darkness[youtube [...]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM7qsU1BCeY?si=LZdjDaO7fBC-ji3n]A recording for the BHP daily Halachic Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS [...]
The Shaf V'Yasiv Shul in Bagdad Fascinating stuff on the historical development of the authority of the Babylonian yeshivos and their heads, going back to King Yechoniah and the Charash and [...]
The mysterious Rabban Savurai (Savora'im) and the question as to When was the Talmud Written Down?[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VzjwlcmA4o?si=xy4SBuTVQ0G__x8T]This episode of our series on the Iggeres D'Rav Sherira Gaon deserved its own [...]
Tzidkas HaTzaddikof Admor Reb Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin zt"l zy"aSimanim 54-56The first episode in the series is in Hebrew. Subsequent episodes are linked in the comments and are in English.[youtube [...]
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yb2goqoonpk6826i3uvtt/Toras-Purim-Collection-5757-5785.pdf?rlkey=pxcueiorhttps://www.academia.edu/128243755/Toras_Purim_Collection_5757_5785 [...]
There are still kelim to bring השראת השכינה today. The yein malchus flows through the four amos of halacha. Just as the neshama is primarily in the head, but causes the flow to [...]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBPN_ZwLCsU?si=BU3byhWjCzugkXVv] [...]
Rischa D'Araisa Season 10 Episode 24:Purim Meshulash Mash-Up:Diplomatic Dress Downgrades- with Vladymir Z "Bear"-ly Daveningin your Purim Costume- with Rav Vozner and Rav Yaakov zt"lhttps://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/98425 [...]
As it is written here in the Megillah, with the vav, ויין מלכות is in gimatriya the equivalent of 572, סוד ברוך מרדכי and סוד ארור המן, or, of course, [...]
ספר אסתר פרק א (ז) וְהַשְׁקוֹת בִּכְלֵי זָהָב וְכֵלִים מִכֵּלִים שׁוֹנִים וְיֵין מַלְכוּת רָב כְּיַד הַמֶּלֶךְ: ספר ליקוטי תורה - פרשת בחקותי והנה השס"ה ל"ת הן להפריד את הרע אבל [...]
Rischa D'Araisa Season 10 Episode 23:Is there a Quality of Life GapBetween theChasidish and LitvishCommunities?https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/98226 [...]
Extremely Significant Section:Municipal Shechitah TakkanosVery fundamental stuff on Shechutei Chutz; the Takkanos of Shechitah in Novardock; the difference between individual and communal Shavyah Anafshei Chatichah D'Issura; different types of Takkanos, [...]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI4i4g7CCgc?si=y_ka9cWs8EGnssLE]References the famous Rogatchover on Aseres Bnei Haman (Hashmotos to Arakhin p. 57 column 1 and Klalei HaTorah V'Ha'Mitzvos vol. 2 p. 124).A recording for the BHP daily Halachic [...]
Due to technical difficulties, this past Erev Shabbos's Rischa was not recorded. We therefore bring you a reframed previous episode for your edification and listening pleasure.Rischa D'Araisa Season 10 Episode [...]
תנא דבי אליהוPart 1. Rabbah 1.1-2[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpxEePUcnLY?si=AO9Zf7stPxzrMk_U]See details about the sefer at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanna_Devei_EliyahuThe text we are using ishttps://hebrewbooks.org/62312 [...]
Rav Dovid Lifshitz zt”l (whose 31st yahrzeit is today) often spoke about the connection between shaleim as wholeness, and that of another conjugation, “shalom“, peace. Shalom is not simply a cessation of violence. That [...]
Parashas Behar is a list of mitzvos. The first section is all about shemittah and yovel. A family’s ancestral land cannot be sold into perpetuity. Instead, if someone is forced [...]
This week I’d like to discuss three seemingly unrelated questions about the words of the tephillah: The focus of Shabbos Mussaf davening is the paragraph that begins “Tiqanta Shabbos…” What [...]
Here’s my theory about the origin of this minhag. My point here is not really about advocating for the minhag. I just feel a need to push back when people [...]
והיה רגיל להוכיח אותי על שראה שאינני משתתף בצערא דאחרינא. וכה היה דברו אלי תמיד שזה כל האדם. לא לעצמו נברא רק להועיל לאחריני ככל אשר ימצא בכחו לעשות. [My [...]
Micha’s note: The following was a post written to the Mesorah email list by Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel zt”l, a rebbe-chaver of mine (more: a rebbe who insisted on treating [...]
(I put these thoughts together for a reply for my daughter Gavi, who pointed me to a medrash that “everyone in her neighborhood” were talking about, but I then was [...]
“Poteach et Yadekha“, oil on canvasHaim Masliach, 2021 A comment by Ilana Elzafun* brought this Seforno to my attention. This week’s parashah (Lekh Likha), Bereishis 16:13, describes Hagar’s prayer to [...]
Dear R Dr Broyde (Cc: Avodah), Over Shabbos, I read your article about getting ChatGPT to discuss whether a kohein in a same-sex marriage may go up to duchen. I [...]
Nephesh Hachaim 1:13 1. T The things we say can also link celestial worlds, rectify this one, and interconnect with the upper worlds, as we’ll now see. After all, we’re [...]
Da’at Tevunot 3:7 (¶ 118 [middle]) 1. We’d do well to take something into consideration, Ramchal adds here. It’s that just because something or someone is imperfect doesn’t mean [...]
The Way of G-d 2:6:4 1. G-d allowed for a prosecutor in His court, famously known as satan 1. His role is to argue against the accused, which them enables [...]
Nephesh Hachaim 1:12 1. R. Chaim already spoke 1 of the fact that we could only link celestial worlds, rectify this one, and interconnect with those upper worlds after we’d [...]
Da’at Tevunot 3:6 (¶ 118 [beginning]) 1. Ramchal reiterates here 1 that wrong is a created entity 2 that was only designed to last for as long as G-d wanted [...]
The Way of G-d 2:6:3 1. Given the above, the fact is that G-d doesn’t judge the world according to His foreknowledge but rather according to the way He wants [...]
Nephesh Hachaim 1:11 1. Following up on the thought offered in the last chapter that despite our being connected to physicality we’re nevertheless superior to angels, R’ Chaim now [...]
Da’at Tevunot 3:5 (¶s 116 [end] – 117) 1. Ramchal says that he’s going to expand upon things he’d said above 1 and reveal things that are “deep” about [...]
The Way of G-d 2:6:2 1. G-d appears in each Sanhedrin and court, influences it, and sees to it that justice is served 1. Now, in some instances [...]
Nephesh Hachaim 1:10 1. Given all of the above concerning our makeup and capacities, it’s reasonable to wonder whether angels are loftier than we are or we’re loftier than they. [...]
Da’at Tevunot 3:4 (¶ 116 [beg.]) 1. Ramchal is about to offer something that will serve as a prelude to what’s to follow 1. It’s that even though G-d [...]
Derech Hashem 2:6:1 In the course of His interactions with the world 1, G-d arranged it so that phenomena that affect both the things that humankind brings about 2 and [...]
Nephesh Hachaim 1:9 1. Following through on the discussion of the previous chapter, R’ Chaim contrasts the situation of the generation that dwelt in the Sinai Desert 1 with that [...]
Da’at Tevunot 3:3 (¶’s 103- 115) 1. It seems logical, doesn’t it, that goodness would be a product of something that emanates goodness while wrongfulness would be a product of [...]
Da’atTevunot 3:2 (# 98 – 102) 1. Ramchal starts to explain the role of wrong and injustice in the world with a proposition derived from Rambam1. It’s that when G-d [...]
Nephesh Hachaim 1:8 1. R’ Chaim offers a rather complex discussion here about the positioning of the Cherubs in the Tabernacle and Holy Temple in order to illustrate his point [...]
The website 18FORTY has a fantastic and thoughtful multimedia post on OTD that is worth watching, reading, and listening to. If you are reading this then you know I don’t [...]
Spoiler, there isn’t much substance to I what have to say. Also, I am spoiling the end of the Skywalker saga. After reading an excellent essay by Rabbi Harry Maryles [...]
I checked my recent writing history today and the last legit post of mine was really 3.5 years ago. For some that’s a long chunk of time. In that time [...]
My wife’s comment on Simchas Torah pretty much summed it up, “I feel like this is the biggest tease for you.” You see, my mom a”h was niftar right before [...]
When today comes around I usually think about things my father missed since he has been gone. I decided that this year I’ll attempt to list a number of things [...]
Walking out of shul, the morning after Yom Kippur, a follow early Sunday morning riser casually said to me, “Back to normal, right?” I was taken off guard (and also [...]
I have started this post about 2 dozen times over the past 3 years and I never seem to get more than about 300 words written about why I stopped [...]
I want to share something that Rav Efraim Twerski said at his Shabbos HaGadol drasha. After starting off with 10 questions Rav Twerski said over an amazing Torah from Rav [...]
So, tonight’s the 6th yahrtzeit for my dad, Avraham ben Zorach a”h (Al, of blessed memory). Like everyone else that has lost a parent I lit my 24 hour yahrzeit [...]
“WARMED BY THE FIRE OF THE AISH KODESH– Torah from the Hilulas of Reb Kalonymus Kalman Shapira of Piaseczna” by Rav Moshe Weinberger and adapted by Binyomin Wolf is more [...]