Yeshiva World News

This week's Haftorah tells the story of Shimshon. One of the important subjects in our Sedra is that of Nezirus. Becoming a Nazir entails taking on strict additional obligations beyond those incumbent upon every Jew in order to distance oneself from sin. The individual wishing to become a Nazir undertakes to stay away from certain impurities and acts that might in some way cause him to sin. It is for that reason that a Nazir does not drink wine. It is also for that reason that he is not allowed ...

Rabbi Yissachar Dov Krakowski is the Supervisor of OU Kashrus in Israel.Rabbi Krakowski served as Rov Kehillas Torah Vechesed in Nachlaot and now serves as a Rabbinic and Halachic consultant to various shuls in Yerushalayim. He has been mishamesh many Rabbanim and Poskim both In America and in Eretz-Yisroel. Rabbi Krakowski started his ...

Do We Lose Out by Keeping Shabbos? The holiday of Shavuos celebrates the day Hashem gave us, the Jewish people, the gift of His holy Torah. The Torah is the Divine handbook that teaches us how to live our lives to the highest potential by following the will of Hashem and performing His precious Mitzvos. There is no denying that the Torah places ...

The following is meant as a convenient review of Halachos pertaining to Yom Tov. The Piskei Din for the most part are based purely on the Sugyos, Shulchan Aruch and Ramah, and the Mishna Berura, unless stated otherwise. They are based on my understanding of the aforementioned texts through the teachings of my Rebeim. As individual ...

Vayis'u lahem nashim Mo'aviyos sheim ha'achas Orpah v'sheim ha'sheinis Rus (Rus 1:4) Due to a famine in the land of Israel, Elimelech traveled with his family to the land of Moab. After his death, his sons Machlon and Kilyon married Rus and Orpah, two local Moabite women. Did Rus and Orpah convert prior to marrying them? It would be difficult to say that they did not convert, as the Gemora (Bava Basra 91a) refers to Machlon and Kilyon as gedolei ha'dor - among the greatest men in their ...

Imagine for a moment you notice a well recognized Talmud chacham in your city walking with an Egyptian girl. Many of us would have thousands of questions. Upon hearing that she was in fact his wife, the questions would continue to mount. Doesn’t the Torah say that for a number of generations they aren’t allowed to enter into the tribe of klal Yisroel? It would raise more than a lot of questions from within the community. Yet, we find similarly the same situation with Boaz. We know that ...

Klal-Yisroel stands at Har-Sinai waiting to accept the Torah Hakedosha. “Awesome” and “spectacular” are inconsequential words to describe the truly momentous Kabbolas-HaTorah. Any description or depiction seems to do an injustice for the actual event. This is all true when we take a glance at the Passukim describing Kabbolas-HaTorah. When we take a look at the Medrashei Chazal this unique event takes on an even more unimaginable dimension. Chazal tell us that Klal-Yisroel requested ...

Ish al diglo b’osos l’beis avosam yachanu B’nei Yisroel mineged saviv l’ohel moed yachanu (2:2) Our Sages teach that everything written in the Torah is recorded because of its relevance to every Jew in every generation. Why are the seemingly trivial details which dominate Parshas Bamidbar, such as the arrangement of the encampments of the various tribes, significant and relevant to us? Rav Aharon Kotler suggests that although this information seems like historical facts with no ...

“Ezra decreed that Klal Yisroel should read the Tochacha in Bechukosei prior to Shavousas as well as the Tochacha in Mishna Torah prior to Rosh Hashana. The reason being, that the year should end along with its curses. This explains with why we lain the klolos before Rosh Hashana, so we should end off the year with its curses, but is Shavous considered a Rosh Hashana? Yes, as we learn from the mishna (Rosh Hashana 16a) that on Shavous we are judged on the fruits.”(Megillah 31b) The Shloh ...

This week's Haftorah is of an extremely moving nature. It is from Hoshea and depicts how far we were to eventually stray from Hashem and how the Galus and our ultimate redemption are to play out. Hakadosh Baruch Hu carries out a long conversation with Hoshea. As part of this conversation Hashem instructs Hoshea to go and marry a woman of ill repute (see mefarshim who explain how Hashem could have commanded him to marry and live with an unfaithful woman). Hoshea has three children from this ...

Emulating the Desert "And Hashem spoke to Moshe in the Sinai desert": Anyone who does not make himself ownerless like the desert cannot acquire wisdom or Torah, and therefore it says, "... in the Sinai desert" (Bamidbar Rabbah 1:7). A hefker object is one of such little value to its owner that he formally abandons it and makes it available to all. Let us consider what is meant by making oneself hefker. One must be prepared to forsake, if necessary, all worldly pleasures for the sake of ...

This week’s Haftorah is a Nevuah from Yirmiyahu. Yirmiyahu imparts to Klal-Yisroel an unfortunate Nevuah of klala (curse). It would seem that this is the reason this Haftorah is chosen as our second Parsha (Bechukosai) contains Klala in it as well. There is, however, a striking difference between the Klalos in the Haftorah and those in the Sedra. In the Haftorah the Navi tells us that cursed is a man who puts his faith in Man. The Navi contrasts this as well with the converse: praiseworthy is ...

PARASHAS BEHAR Adapting to Imperfection And if you shall say, what will we eat in the seventh year, for we have not planted or gathered in our grain [due to the restrictions Of shmittahl, I will appoint My blessing to you in the sixth year, and it will yield enough grain for the three year period [the year before the shmittah, the shmittah year, and the following year, until you can plant and reap the harvest] (Vayikra 25:20-21). Sforno writes that the nature of Hashem's miracle varied ...

Im bechukosai teileichu (26:3) Parshas Bechukosai begins by promising tremendous blessings for those who obey its commandments (26:3-12). What must one do to warrant these rewards? Rashi explains that the expression Im bechukosai teileichu – if you will walk in My laws – cannot refer to observing the mitzvos, as this is explicitly mentioned elsewhere in the verse – v'es mitzvosai tishm'ru. Rather, it refers to diligently studying the Torah. Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein recounts a ...

One of the mitzvos we find in this weeks parsha is the lo saseh of ribis. The pasuk says (25; 36) ‘You shall not take from him interest or increase, and you shall fear your God, and let your brother live with you.’ When reading the pasuk one must ponder the peculiarity of the wording ‘and let your brother live with you.’ What does your brother living with you have to do with ribis that it is placed in middle of the pasukim discussing ribis? Additionally, just as one is permitted ...

This week's Haftorah is from Yechezkel. It discusses all sorts of things to do with Kohanim. It seems clear that the reason this Haftorah was chosen is because the bulk of the Parsha deals with Mitzvos Hakohanim. While the similarity between Parsha and Haftorah is clear, and the choice obvious, there is an equally obvious question: the Parsha also discusses Yomim-Tovim and a few other Mitzvos that are pertinent to all Jews – Kohanim and non-Kohanim alike. This being the case, Chazal could ...

Striving for Perfection Seforno explains that even though there are blemishes that actually increase the strength and value of an animal, they nevertheless render the animal unfit for sacrifice. Throughout the Torah we find completion and wholeness taking precedence over quantity. Thus a whole roll takes precedence over a much larger portion of a loaf of bread, in the recitation of hamotzi. From this we learn that our avodah is measured not by quantity, but by how close it comes to ...