Did you say the ‘Nasi’ Today? (Yom Alef)

From the Safer Haminhagim: [Every day from Rosh Chodesh Nissan until the twelfth of the month, usually after Shacharis,] one reads the passage [from Bamidbar 7-8:4] that describes the offering brought on that day by a particular Nasi, or tribal prince, for the dedication of the altar of the Mishkan. [In common parlance, each day’s passage itself is often referred to as “the Nasi.”] This daily reading is followed by the prayer which opens with the words yehi ratzon (and which appears in Siddur Torah Or [as well as in Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 371]). This prayer is recited even by a Kohen or a Levi [despite its seeming relevance only to tribes other than the Tribe of Levi]. [284]

Merciful Discipline – Accessing The Kohen Within

Until you can see the good within a person, you are incapable of helping him. (Tzvi Freeman, Bringing Heaven Down To Earth)

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Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok of Lubavitch was imprisoned in 1927 for perpetuating Jewish life within the vast boarders of the Soviet Union. The incarceration and physical abuse took its toll; leaving the Rebbe in a deteriorated state of health, for which he eventually sought treatment at various European sanatoriums. The Rebbe wrote the following letter to one of his sons-in-law in the winter of 1935:

Halacha and the Parasha: Parashas Tazriah

Halacha and the Parasha: Parashas Tazriah.

Torah in 10: Ego-Management

We are pleased to present our Forty Third online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.

Halacha and the Parasha: Parashas Shemini

Halacha and the Parasha: Parashas Shemini

Torah in 10: The Moses and Aaron Inside You

We are pleased to present our Forty Second online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.

COMMITMENT: The Longest Four Letter Word

Some Things Must Not Change

Imagine what life would be like if we couldn’t depend on the sun to rise in the morning?

A prevalent cultural misnomer is that the “New” and “Different” is intrinsically better than the old and routine. This mindset affects all aspects of human life, from relationships to religious observance and even where we choose to live.

Torah in 10: How to Stop Blaming and Start Living

We are pleased to present our Fourty First online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.

Halacha and the Parasha: Parashas Tzav

Halacha and the Parasha – Parashas Tzav.

Torah in 10: Fascinating Insights on The Parsha!

We are pleased to present our Fortieth online class in the “Torah in Ten” series, presented by the editor-in-chief of Kol Menachem, Rabbi Chaim Miller.

Halacha and the Parasha: Parashas Vayikra

Halacha and the Parasha – Parashas Vayikra

Sicha of the Rebbe – Parshas Pekudei

The Rebbe says (part one):

1. The portion of Pekudei, as well as the previous portion of Vayakhel, discuss at length exactly how all the elements of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) were made.

2. The Rebbe now questions this:

Three and four Torah portions earlier, in Parshas Terumah and Tetzaveh, the Torah told us that Hashem (G-d) told Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) exactly how to make the Mishkan. Now, again, in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei, the Torah tells us exactly how the Mishkan was actually and finally made in accordance with the previous instructions.

Surely, if we consider that the Torah’s general style of composition is to write everything in the shortest possible manner, and indeed many laws are learned out from one extra word or letter, we will be puzzled at the Torah’s repetition of every single detail of the Mishkan. Wouldn’t it have been more fitting for the Torah to simply state in this week’s Torah portion, “And the Jewish people constructed the Mishkan in accordance with all that Hashem had commanded Moshe Rabbeinu”? Why does the Torah belabor the point by going through every part of the Mishkan that the Jewish people in fact made, in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudei?