Miqeitz: Time and Process
The parashah opens “Vayhi mikeitz sh’nasayim yamim — and it was at the end of a pair of years of days”. After Yosef spent two years in prison, Par’oh’s dream leads the wine steward...
Keeping Torah and Values in Focus
by Micha Berger · Published November 6, 2004 – כ״ב במרחשוון תשס״ה · Last modified November 6, 2004
The parashah opens “Vayhi mikeitz sh’nasayim yamim — and it was at the end of a pair of years of days”. After Yosef spent two years in prison, Par’oh’s dream leads the wine steward...
3- Vayiqra / Amidah / Qedushah
by Micha Berger · Published May 6, 2004 – ט״ו באייר תשס״ד · Last modified May 6, 2004
“You Are Kadosh, and Your Name Is Kadosh, and kedoshim praise You every day. Selah! [For you are G-d, King, Great and Kadosh. –Sepharad] Baruch Atah … the Kadosh G-d.” The question of kedushah...
by Micha Berger · Published April 15, 2002 – ג׳ באייר תשס״ב · Last modified April 15, 2002
The Haggadah tells us that the Torah addresses the question of telling the Passover story to our children by referring to four different kinds of children. One is wise, one is evil, one is...
Packing peanuts. That filler material stuck in the box to prevent breakage. You would think it has nothing to do with Pesach, right? A few years ago, a friend showed me a halachic guide...
1- Bereishis / Theodicy / UFEM
by Micha Berger · Published October 19, 2001 – ב׳ במרחשוון תשס״ב · Last modified October 19, 2001
There are two events in the Torah that can be identified as yeshu’os, by which I mean events where Hashem saved someone even though they didn’t really merit it. The more obvious is Yetzi’as...
by Micha Berger · Published August 3, 2001 – י״ד באב תשס״א · Last modified August 3, 2001
Judaism has numerous words for particular ideals; there is the tzadik, the chasid, the ba’al teshuvah, etc… But does it have a word for idealism itself – for the inherent value of a burning...
by Micha Berger · Published August 14, 1998 – כ״ב באב תשנ״ח · Last modified August 14, 1998
I In this week’s parashah Moshe describes Hashem as “… haKel haGadol haGibor vihaNorah — the G-d, the Great, the A-lmighty, and the Awesome …”. These words were incorporated by the Anshei Kinesses Hagedolah...
by Micha Berger · Published November 3, 1995 – י׳ במרחשוון תשנ״ו · Last modified November 3, 1995
Most young Yeshiva children come home sometime around Shavuos with the story of how Hashem offered the Torah to all the nations of the world, but only the Jews accepted it. The medrash, as...
by Micha Berger · Published October 27, 1995 – ג׳ במרחשוון תשנ״ו · Last modified October 27, 1995
In the Amidah for Yom Tov, we credit Hashem as the one who “lifted us from among the languages”. Importance is given not just to our nationhood (“You chose us from among the nations”)...
Fundamentals / Qedushah / Shabbos
by Micha Berger · Published October 18, 1995 – כ״ד בתשרי תשנ״ו · Last modified October 18, 1995
This week I’d like to discuss three seemingly unrelated questions about the words of the tephillah: The focus of Shabbos Mussaf davening is the paragraph that begins “Tiqanta Shabbos…” What most readily jumps to...
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