Posts by Yaakov Klein
What’s Mine is Yours and What’s Yours is Yours
While much of our parsha deals with the laws of Yovel and Shemittah, it closes with warnings against ribbis, (interest) ona’ah (monetary deception), and gezel (thievery). In an astounding lesson, the Mei HaShiloach explains the connection between the messages of Yovel and Shemittah and these financial prohibitions in his inimitable, wondrous manner. In Pirkei Avos,…
Read MoreA Line of Zeroes
Our parsha opens with a commandment directed to the Kohanim, warning them to stay far away from any corpse so they do not become impure. This commandment is specific to kohanim; the loftiness of their souls and their bond to the pure life-force of spirituality makes them particularly susceptible to damage by the impurity of…
Read MoreFeeding the World with Holiness
“You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am Hashem.” Toward the beginning of his Chassidic masterpiece, “Kedushas Levi”, the Berditchover Rav teaches that a primary catalyst for a conscious and inspired avodas Hashem is the awareness that one’s actions have an enormous effect upon all…
Read MoreDrawing Down Hashem’s Presence
In Parshas Kedoshim we read, “You shall love your fellow as you love yourself, I am Hashem”. One of the most well-known commandments in the entire Torah, this mitzvah is also one of the most difficult to observe. But aside from the difficulty involved in loving others to the same degree as one loves himself…
Read MoreTwo Levels of Healing
In parshas Acharei Mos, Hashem states: “Ushmartem es chukosai v’es mishpatai asher ya’aseh osam ha’adam va’chai bahem ani Hashem” – “You shall keep My statutes and My laws, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am Hashem.” The Degel Machaneh Ephraim teaches that while the mishpatim-laws of the Torah refer to those mitzvos…
Read MoreThe Living Waters of Teshuvah
“And the Kohen shall order one of the birds slaughtered over spring water in an earthenware vessel.” In Parshas Metzorah, we learn about the purification process of a Jew who has been stricken with tzara’as, a supernatural form of leprosy caused by improper speech. After this leprosy has healed, a ritual is performed in which…
Read MoreHidden Treasure
In Parshas Tazria, Hashem tells Moshe that when the Jews enter the Holy Land, He will place tzara’as on their houses. Rashi explains that unlike other forms of tzara’as, this plague was not a response to human sin. Rather, this affliction would be sent from heaven for the benefit of the homeowner. When a Jew…
Read MoreThe Magnetic Field of Hashem’s Love
In this week’s parsha we read, “This is the teaching regarding the metzora: On the day of his purification, he shall be brought to the Kohen. And the Kohen shall go out of the camp…” The Lubavitcher Rebbe notes a seeming contradiction in these verses. While in the first verse we are told that the…
Read MoreElevating Physicality
In this week’s parsha, Hashem tells Moshe “Speak to the B’nei Yisrael and tell them “These are the creatures that you may eat”. What follows are the dietary laws of Kosher, detailing which animals may be eaten by a Jewish person. Rav Moshe Tzvi of Savran quotes a teaching from Chazal which states that Hashem…
Read MoreThe Halfway Mark of Completion
In parshas Shemini, the Torah records a dispute between Moshe and Ahron regarding the Chattas offering of Rosh Chodesh. While Moshe felt that Ahron should have eaten the Chattas offering, Ahron had it burned because he was an onen, having recently lost his two sons. Despite his initial disappointment in the seeming departure from halacha,…
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