Category «Shemos»

5778 פרשת תרומה

פרשת תרומה Parshas Terumah What Can We Give to Hashem? The Medrash (Tanna Dibay Eliyahu chapter 17) brings a Pasuk from the beginning of this week’s parsha that reads: “Bisha’ a She’amru Yisrael Naase Vinishma Miyad Amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu Viyikchu Li Terumah (Shemos 25:2).“ When Bnei Yisrael said ‘We shall do and we shall …

משפטים

פרשת משפטים Parashas Mishpatim שבת שקלים Fulfilling All 613 Mitzvos and Its Relation to the Half-Shekel Toward the end of this week’s parsha, the Torah returns to its narrative of Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah). The pasuk says (Shemos 24:7), ויאמרו כל אשר דבר ה’ נעשה ונשמע – and they said ‘All that Hashem …

יתר

פרשת יתר Parashas Yisro Go Out and Learn The Pasuk says,”וַיִּשְׁמַ֞ע יִתְר֨וֹ כֹהֵ֤ן מִדְיָן֙ חֹתֵ֣ן משֶׁ֔ה אֵת֩ כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֤ה אֱלֹהִים֙ לְמשֶׁ֔ה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עַמּ֑וֹ כִּֽי־הוֹצִ֧יא יְהוָֹ֛ה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם – Yisro, the minister of Midian, the father-in-law of Moshe, heard everything that Hahsem did to Moshe and to Yisroel, His people that HaShem had taken Israel out of …

בשלח

פרשת בשלח Parshas Beshalach – 5778 The Merit of a Mitzvah – You get Credit for Consequence as Well as Performance Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) writes [1] “חכם לב יקח מצוות ואויל שפתים ילבט – One of wise heart gathers mitzvos, but a fool’s lips stumble.” Chazal [2] relate this pasuk to a pasuk in this week’s …

בא

פרשת בא Parashas Bo Mitzvah Performance Only For The Sake of Hashem The first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a whole is found in this week’s parsha. (The mitzvos that are mentioned earlier in Berieshes, Pru U’Rvu (having children) and Milah (circumcision) are commandments given to our forefathers before there was an actual …

וארא

פרשת וארא Parashas Va’eira (5778) When One Observes and Also Perceives This week, the Torah begins the narrative of the ten plagues that brought Mitzrayim to its knees. It is significant to note how the Torah describes the behavior of Pharaoh regarding these plagues and his reaction to the destruction of his subjects. Pharaoh was utterly …