Our parsha, Toldot, shares three stories. The first is the background to the birth of Eisav and Yaakov and the sale of the bechora (birthright); the second is in the chapter dedicated to the life …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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11/27/19
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Avimelekh, king of Gerar, is a tragic figure. He is a king, but is very insecure. He thinks his position allows him to do things no civilian could get away with, but every time he gets called on his …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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11/14/19
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Rabbi Yehuda Amital, the founding rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, was known to say at the beginning of the new cycle of the Torah: “I don’t understand anything in parshat …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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10/24/19
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Is the manner in which we shake the four species random, or is there reason behind how we are supposed to wave them? One of Rabbi Zvi Dov Kanatopsky’s holiday sermons, in the book …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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10/10/19
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For the parsha with the fewest number of verses in the Torah, Vayelech is quite busy. (Nitzavim has 10 more verses, but it takes up less space in the Torah.)
Between warnings of bad that may …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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10/3/19
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At least three words in our parsha, Nitzavim, could be defined as a “milah manchah” — a repeated word which Nechama Leibowitz Z”L would utilize to draw out a theme in a …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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9/26/19
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In our parsha, Ki Tavo, we find Moshe being repetitive with his goodbyes. Which seems excessive.
At the end of chapter 26, he tells the people, “G-d is commanding you to keep the laws. …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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9/19/19
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If one finds something that belongs to someone else, the Torah obligates the finder to return it. Beginning with an example of a wandering animal, the mitzvah becomes more specific and general in …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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9/11/19
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In preparation for Tisha B’Av, I read through Artscroll’s Eicha and came across the following passage by Rabbi Nosson Scherman.
“The truth is far beneath the surface: …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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9/8/19
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The source of Rabbinic commandments is in Devarim chapter 17, when Moshe decreeds that the Sanhedrin, based at the place “G-d will have chosen,” will declare laws. “You must do …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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9/6/19
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