5781 Yahrzeit of Reb Eizel Charif This Shabbos, ד' טבת, is the Yahrzeit of two great people. The first is Reb Yehoshua Isaac Shapiro, who was known as Reb Eizel Charif. He was born in 1801 in the small town of Glubki, near villna and he died in the year 1873. He was a tremendous gaon and very sharp/witty as his name indicates. He was also known for his sharp humor and until today many of his witticism are still known....
5781 Yahrzeit of the Raavad This Shabbos כ"ו כסלו is the Yahrzeit of the ראב"ד. The Raavad wrote other works but he is most known for his השגות on the Rambam. The Raavad was Reb Avraham ben Dovid. He is known as the third Raavad. In in Hilchos Lulav (8:5) regarding the Halacha of נקטם by the הדסים writes the following: כבר הופיע רוח הקודש בבית מדרשנו מכמה שנים. Similarly in Hilchos Beis Habchira (6:14) he writes כך נגלה לי מסוד ה' ליראיו....
5782 Jewish Identity Parshas Vayishlach begins with the confrontation between Yaakov and Eisav. This confrontation is really the story of the Jewish people throughout history. The Ramban writes that Reb Yehuda HaNasi would learn Parshas Vayishlach before he dealt with the Romans. Yaakov wrestles with the שרו של עשו and he says to him הגידה נא שמך and the Malach responds למה זה תשאל לשמי. This could be understood that throughout history, the Jewish people are always trying to fit into a specific society and culture and to blend in....
5782 Impact of the Departure ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה Regarding why the Torah says ויצא and וילך, Rashi writes לא היה צריך לכתוב אלא וילך יעקב חרנה, ולמה הזכיר יציאתו, אלא מגיד שיציאת צדיק מן המקום עושה רושם, שבזמן שהצדיק בעיר הוא הודה הוא זיוה הוא הדרה, יצא משם פנה הודהה פנה זיוה פנה הדרה. It’s not clear what the תועלת is in telling us that יציאת צדיק מן המקום עושה רושם....
5782 This week’s Kiddush was sponsored by Mikey Perl in honor of the birth of his daughter Shoshana. ואלה תולדות This Shabbos is an appropriate Shabbos to celebrate a Kiddush being that the Parshah is about Toldos. There are two Parshiyos that begin with ואלה תולדות. One of them is called Toldos and the other is called Noach. If we don’t want to call two Parshiyos the same name, one would think it would be better to call a Parshah after Yitzchak instead of Noach....