VeNahaphoch Hu
The entire story of Megillat Esther takes place in Shushan, the capital city of the Persian empire, located in modern day Iran. No explicit reference is made to Eretz Yisrael, other than the megillah noting Mordechai’s exile from Yerushalayim years before. Haman’s rabid hatred of the Jewish people seems to be directed at the Jews […]
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The High Priest in Jerusalem
The Kohen Gadol is possibly the most rarefied and sublime figure in the Torah. Bedecked with an extra four articles of clothing to demarcate him as distinct from other kohanim, he stands alone in his halachik uniqueness. He is the only one who can enter the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur and the only […]
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Ten Plagues in Egypt and Ten Miracles in Jerusalem
The fifth chapter in Masekhet Avot delineates many examples of groupings of ten throughout history. Hashem created the world with ten utterances. Avraham Avinu was tested ten times. The Mishna notes that Avraham’s ten successes reflected his undying love for HaKadosh Barukh Hu. Additionally, there were ten plagues brought upon the Egyptians. Concomitant with these […]
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Split Between the Lion and Wolf: Jerusalem Unites Rachel and Leah
In Yaakov’s blessing for his son Binyamin, he makes cryptic references to his youngest son as a “snatching wolf”. The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 99:3) seeks to understand the prophetic implications of this comparison. Hazal explain that this references Shaul, the first king of Israel, who hailed from Shevet Binyamin. He “snatched” away the kingship from […]
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The Lowly Jew’s Fire for Jerusalem
The Midrash Rabbah (Noach, 32) recounts a bizarre story about the great Tannaitic sage Rebbe Yonatan, who was a principal disciple of Rebbe Yishmael and lived shortly after the destruction of the second temple. Rebbe Yonatan and his donkey driver were traveling towards Jerusalem to pray at the site of the Beis HaMikdash’s ruins. They […]
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Swearing By Jerusalem
Our parsha opens with a discussion of oaths and vows. To be a bonified vow, the person taking the vow must mention God’s name or that of a sanctified item. This leads to several interesting Talmudic discussions regarding which formulations create a halachik vow and which do not. In this vein, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was […]
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The Integrated Memory of Jerusalem
Bringing the sacrifices in the Mishkan and the Beit HaMikdash is referred to as an “avodah” or service of God. The fact that this specific form of service merits such a general name indicates that the lessons learnt from the world of sacrifices are applicable to our service of God more generally. With that in […]
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An Ohel Mo’ed Out of Jerusalem?
The Noam Elimelech opens his commentary to our parsha with an astute observation on the first verse of Vayikra. Our parsha begins “And He called to Moshe, and God spoke with him from the Ohel Mo’ed.” From reading the verse in its entirety it is clear that the initial subject of the verse is God. […]
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Yearning For Jerusalem
This week is the first of the four special Torah readings that lead up to Pesach. They are all connected in one way or another to the ideal reality, when the Jewish people are living as a nation in their land and the Beit HaMikdash is functioning properly. For example, this week’s extra portion describes […]
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Preparing for Jerusalem
During the plague of Arov, the Torah records a negotiation of sorts between Pharoah andMoshe. Pharoah tells Moshe that if his goal is that the Jewish people should have an opportunity toserve God and offer him sacrifices, there is no reason for that not to occur within the borders of theLand of Egypt. Moshe, though, […]
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