Esav
Acharei – Seducing the Satan
Why do we seem to offer a sacrifice to the Other Side on Yom Kippur? Why does the atonement occur then? Why do we offer the exact same type of animal to Hashem as to the Other Side? Is Yakov sincere in his gift to Esav and his admission that Esav should have the blessings?…
Read MoreMaharsha Sanhedrin 12a
I was revisiting an old post of mine, which was a really mind-blowing piece in the maharsha in Sanhedrin. As I was looking it over, some cool ideas came to mind which wanted to share. The italics are the original post, and the stars are my current thoughts. Recently, in the daf (Sanhedrin 12) we…
Read MoreToldos – Beginnings and Ends
How do we understand the unusual fact that Yakov is named for the heel (ekev)? What is the significance of the fact that Yakov was holding Esav’s heel as they were being born? Why is Yakov so intent on purchasing the first-born rights and getting the blessings of the firstborn? Why does the Torah interrupt…
Read MoreYom Kippur – Bribing the Satan
What is the secret of the goat that was sent to the wilderness? How can we conceive of the concept of a bribe for the Satan? What is the parallel to the story of Yakov and Esav? How does this apply to our unique times? Find out in this week’s Parsha Podcast. Running time: 22:39
Read MoreJerusalem: Not For Sale
What is it about Yerushalayim that makes it so central on the world stage? Why does the United States government care if we build in our capital? Why does the Arab world get up in arms if we build a synagogue in our capital city? What is it about the current situation that is so…
Read MoreEsav as Moshiach ben Yosef
R’ Daniel Krentzman has once again put together a wonderful kuntres on the topic of Moshiach ben Yosef, this time in regards to Esav’s potential as Moshiach ben Yosef. The topic was discussed here, but R’ Krentzman has outdone himself, and really takes this topic to another level. Click here to read it.
Read MoreToldos – Esav and Moshiach ben Yosef
What is the significance of Esav’s name? Why was he so involved in the physical world? Was he intrinsically evil? Why did Yakov deem it so important to buy his firstborn rights? Why did he need to steal the blessings? How could Yakov lie and claim he was Esav? Why did he Yakov these blessings…
Read MoreMoshiach ben Yosef and Amalek
For the past few weeks, even though I have been out of the blogging mode of Moshiach ben Yosef, I have not been completely inactive. I started to tell my son a very long night time story. We call it the Torah story. I started from the beginning with Adam Harishon and spoke through a…
Read MoreApples, Rosh Hashana, and tikkun hakilkul
This past Friday night, as we sat down to our Rosh Hashana meal, I was struck with a question that never crossed my mind before. We had said Hamotzi already, and had begun the seder of simanim, and we of course started first with the most obvious siman – dipping our apples in honey. We…
Read More