Special Times

This 15 minute talk will take you on a journey from the 10 plagues in Mitzrayim, through Kriyas Yam Suf, and all the way until Kabalas HaTorah.

I happened to read in the Kaf Hachaim (5) that Vasikin is mechaper for Zera L'vatala! What hashgacha pratis! Hashem obviously wanted me to daven vasikin to send me a sign that my Teshuva is accepted!

We all know from the Rambam that complete teshuva is when you are in the exact same situation with the same temptation, yet you overcome the temptation. Sometimes, it's hard for me to imagine being in the exact same situation with the same level of lust.

"Am I crazy? Am I a fool? Am I living my life in denial? Of course, I am going to do teshuva. But what will be Motzai Yom Kippur? What will be rosh chodesh Shvat, Addar, Addar Beis?!

Velo nomar od elokainu lemaaseh yadeinu asher becha yerucham yasom. ; We all feel like orphans in some areas of life, when we feel that we cannot rely on anyone/anything to get us what we need/want. ;Only our efforts and exertions can do the trick. That is wrong, ;asher becha yerucham yasom, we h...

These 4 ;parshiyos ;resemble ;our journey in recovery. ; First comes Shkalim, which means we have to weigh our actions, put them ;in balance - the ;inventory. After that comes ;Zachor: we find the bad that has to be eliminated and we do so just like with Amalek. ; After we got rid of the bad, com...

Every place where the chometz was brought during the year, requires careful inspection (bedikah). This means to say that everyone needs to inspect his soul for place that the "chometz" (i.e. the Evil Inclination) dwells there, each one according to his or her level. For example, someone who habit...

Hashem inspired me to respond as follows: That's a good question. Chazal actually ask, "Where can we find Haman in the Torah?" And they answer, from the pasuk where Hashem asks Adam Harishon if he ate from the tree that he was commanded not to: ; הֲמִן-הָעֵץ, ;אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִיךָ לְבִלְתִּי אֲכָל-...

R Tzadok in his sefer Pri tzedek, Vayechi, 4. ; ;We say every shabbos, in pesukai desimra "hodu Lashem....Ki leolam chasdo". Within that kepitel of tehilim we say "leosei niflaot...", and subsequently go-on to mention brias haolam and yetzias mitzrayim, and finally kriyat yam suf. The question be...

When Klal Yisroel sinned so much that it was a real big mess, what did Hashem do? He took away the Beis Hamikdosh. Not only that, but He took away the nevi'im, the nissim, and many of our Torah sages and good people. And He even took most of us outside of Eretz Yisroel! Now, how does ;that ;...