Jerusalem Tours Parshat Bo 5786
Despite the stormy weather, we had several amazing families join us, discovering the incredible sites in all four quarters of Jerusalem, as well as our special Shield of Jerusalem Tour. Devorah Leah and Rafi Kaplan from Los Angeles Bernstein and Rosenal families from Surfside, FL Dave and Rachel Corcia and kids, and Marty and Sarah […]
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Beit Wittenberg: A Merchant Legacy Reclaimed After a Century of Forced Absence
Beit Wittenberg isn’t just another stone structure in Jerusalem’s Old City. It’s a reminder — and now a restoration — of a Jewish commercial world that once thrived in places activists and diplomats now insist were “never” Jewish. The British Mandate files, family registries, and dusty notarized documents scattered across archives all point to the […]
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Moshe Zar, Shomron Pioneer and Visionary, Passes Away
By: Judith Segaloff Moshe Zar, a revered figure known as the “Grand Founder of the Shomron” and a tireless pioneer of Judea and Samaria, passed away peacefully. His legacy is etched into the landscape of the Shomron, where his decades-long dedication shaped communities like Ramat Gilad, named in memory of his murdered eldest son, Gilad. […]
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The Scent of Surrender: Bilaam vs. Avraham on Har HaMoriah
Throughout the entire narrative of Parshat Balak, there is an undertone of competition between Bilaam and the holy Avot. As Bilaam attempts to curse Klal Yisrael, he builds seven altars and offers numerous korbanot upon them. Chazal see great significance in his choice of the number seven. As Rashi explains (Bamidbar 23:6), the Torah records […]
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Where Death Yields to Life: Har HaZeitim as the Refuge of Purity
The complex process of Parah Adumah involved many halachik steps. Beyond its intricacy, every stage had to be conducted in a state of total purity. If someone who was tamei handled the ashes of the red heifer, the ashes would lose their power to purify. To prevent this, Chazal painstakingly enacted numerous safeguards to ensure […]
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A Song From the Abyss: Bnei Korach and the Power of Yerushalayim
As the ground opened to swallow Korach’s rebellious followers, the Torah tells us it tragically included man, woman, and child (Bamidbar 16:32). “How dreadful is machloket!” declares Rashi (ibid 16:27), for Korach’s rebellioncaused the death of even infants, the children of the sinners. Yet remarkably, the children of one rebel were spared. And not just […]
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Pipelines of Light: The Menorah, the Mikdash, and the Soul of the World
As Jerusalem was being rebuilt following the bitter seventy-year Babylonian exile, Zechariah HaNavi experiences a series of exceedingly cryptic visions. As we will read in this week’s haftorah (Zechariah 3-4), an angel of Hashem first shows the navi a vision of Yehoshua Kohen Gadol and his purification (we discussed this prophecy prior to Yom HaShoah […]
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Transcendence and Unity: The Paradox of the Kohen Gadol
The Yom Kippur sacrificial service, as delineated in our parsha, highlights the Kohen Gadol’s unique and spiritually transcendent status. On this holy day, the Kohen Gadol alone fulfills the extensive duties of korbanot in the Mikdash. He even enters into the Kodesh HaKadoshim, the Holy of Holies, to intercede on behalf of Klal Yisrael. Only […]
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Slaying the Lion on a Winter’s Day
As we begin reading the extensive discussions of the sacrificial order in Sefer Vayikra, the collective, inaudible groan from the synagogue pews rings in my ears. Vayikra’s detailed descriptions of korbanot and the kohanim seem to bore many a modern Jew. Rav Soloveitchik tz’l beautifully bemoaned the Book of Vayikra’s “lack of mazel.” Throughout history, […]
Explore moreMachon l’Shivtecha: The Lower and Heavenly Jerusalems Align
As Bnei Yisrael sing in praise of the great miracles of Yam Suf, they prophetically describe their future entrance to Eretz Yisrael. The Exodus story doesn’t end with Klal Yisrael’s freedom from Egyptian bondage; it continues with kabalat haTorah and entry to Eretz Yisrael, culminating with the building of the Beit HaMikdash in Jerusalem. This […]
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