Killing Amaleiq
As the wise king wrote, “For everything there is a time, and a season for every goal under heaven.” The “time for war” was when Canaan was simply a battleground for warring barbaric tribes,...
by Micha Berger · Published March 18, 2022 – ט״ו באדר ב׳ תשפ״ב · Last modified December 28, 2022
As the wise king wrote, “For everything there is a time, and a season for every goal under heaven.” The “time for war” was when Canaan was simply a battleground for warring barbaric tribes,...
by Micha Berger · Published February 14, 2022 – י״ג באדר א׳ תשפ״ב · Last modified March 6, 2022
While looking at Unqelus this week, I had a thought that is an application of the idea in Prayers and Requests. (See also Meshekh Chokhmah – Vayechi II – My Sword and My Bow.)...
by Micha Berger · Published December 24, 2021 – כ׳ בטבת תשפ״ב · Last modified December 28, 2022
A post on Facebook by Jeremy Phillips raised the question of why Hashem chose a vigilante to be His lawgiver. He got me thinking. Hashem even lauds Moshe’s vigilantism in the Torah when he...
2- Shemos / Torah as Growth / Uncategorized
by Micha Berger · Published March 4, 2021 – כ׳ באדר תשפ״א · Last modified March 4, 2021
In this week’s parasha (Shemos 34:1), when Hashem tells Moshe to carve the second luchos, He says “פסל לך – carve for yourself”. The gemara comments on the apparently superfluous “לך – for yourself”...
2- Shemos / Other-Focused Orthodoxy
by Micha Berger · Published March 3, 2021 – י״ט באדר תשפ״א · Last modified March 3, 2021
Why is it that in last week’s parashah (Ki Sisa) we read all about the sin of the eigel hazahav but this week’s parashah we read about the mitzvah of making two keruvim atop the aron? Why...
by Micha Berger · Published January 29, 2021 – ט״ז בשבט תשפ״א · Last modified January 29, 2021
When the Jews reached the Red Sea and saw the Mitzriyim catching up, “וַיִּֽירְאוּ֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַיִּצְעֲק֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶל־ה’ — they became very fearful, and the Benei Yisrael cried out to Hashem.” (Shemos 14:10) Rashi,...
by Micha Berger · Published January 19, 2021 – ו׳ בשבט תשפ״א · Last modified January 19, 2021
So, I recently noticed that the translation of Unqelus I am using offers “hardened Par’oh’s heart” and the like regardless of whether the original word ויחזק (Aramaic: ואתקף) or another word built from \חזק\...
by Micha Berger · Published October 31, 2019 – ב׳ במרחשוון תש״פ · Last modified October 31, 2019
There are three verbs in pasuq 31 describing the steps in which being saved at the Red Sea impacted the Jews:
vayyar – they saw
vayyir’u – they felt yir’ah (fear / awe)
vaya’aminu – they believed
2- Shemos / Pesach / Torah as Growth / Yir`ah
by Micha Berger · Published April 12, 2019 – ז׳ בניסן תשע״ט · Last modified April 12, 2019
דַּבֶּר־נָ֖א בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וְיִשְׁאֲל֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ ׀ מֵאֵ֣ת רֵעֵ֗הוּ וְאִשָּׁה֙ מֵאֵ֣ת רְעוּתָ֔הּ כְּלֵי־כֶ֖סֶף וּכְלֵ֥י זָהָֽב׃ Please tell the people to borrow, each man from his friend and each woman from her friend, silver utensils and gold utensils....
by Micha Berger · Published March 12, 2019 – ה׳ באדר ב׳ תשע״ט · Last modified March 12, 2019
I heard (via YouTube) a thought in a shiur by Rabbi Yaakov Haber that I wanted to share and embellish. When we first found out in 2012 that the Syrian government was using chemical...
Here are some important links if you don't want to miss any of our shiurim:
Recent Comments