A Mussar sage was teaching Torah to a young boy. Someone asked the Rabbi, “Who is the boy’s father?” The Rabbi responded, “He is the son of HaShem.” Then the Rabbi explained his unusual answer, “If I would have said, ‘He is Dave’s son or Chaim’s son – then you would have known something about [...]
There are two aspects that comprise the act of giving charity: 1) the actual giving of the gift; and, 2) the willingness of the heart to give. The Torah (Devarim 15:10) teaches the importance of giving charity with positive feelings: “You shall surely give him, and let your heart not feel bad when you give [...]
A straightforward reading of the verse (Devarim 11:13) that we read every day in Krias Shema seems perplexing: “if you continually hearken to My commandments that I command you today, to love HaShem…” Is “to love HaShem” the sum total of what HaShem requires of us? Aren’t there 613 commandments? King Dovid said “My soul [...]
The heart is our spiritual center. The Torah instructs us to cut away the barrier of your heart (Devarim 10:16). The Ramban explains: “Your hearts should be open to know the truth…and you should not err to think that there is any benefit in serving intermediate forces, i.e., angels, idols, planets, etc.” After Klal Yisrael [...]
