Dip the Apple in the Honey
Here are three thoughts related to the siman, the mnemonic practice, of eating an apple dipped in honey. (Aside from the ear-worm you or your kid learned in preschool that starts with the words...
by Micha Berger · Published September 8, 2018 – כ״ח באלול תשע״ח · Last modified September 8, 2018
Here are three thoughts related to the siman, the mnemonic practice, of eating an apple dipped in honey. (Aside from the ear-worm you or your kid learned in preschool that starts with the words...
Holidays / Reward and Punishment
by Micha Berger · Published August 27, 2018 – ט״ז באלול תשע״ח · Last modified August 27, 2018
I was asked the following question, and the author thought enough people want to know the answer that it pays to share it here: Q: “Siman“, as on Rosh Hashanah night, is translated as...
by Micha Berger · Published October 3, 2017 – י״ג בתשרי תשע״ח · Last modified October 3, 2017
כָּל מִי שֶׁלֹּא רָאָה שִׂמְחַת בֵּית הַשּׁוֹאֵבָה – לֹא רָאָה שִׂמְחָה מִיָּמָיו! Whomever didn’t see Simchas Beis haShoeivah did not see simchah in all his days! –Mishnah Sukkah 5:1 The talmud on this mishnah...
by Micha Berger · Published August 1, 2017 – ט׳ באב תשע״ז · Last modified August 1, 2017
The story of Qamtza and Bar Qamtza is very well known. It is introduced by Rabbi Yochanan, who asks, “’What is the meaning of the verse in Mishlei which reads, ‘Fortunate is the one...
Holidays / Other-Focused Orthodoxy
by Micha Berger · Published May 22, 2017 – כ״ו באייר תשע״ז · Last modified May 22, 2017
Rav Shelomo al-Qabetz actually addresses much of Lekha Dodi to Jerusalem: “מִקְדַּשׁ מֶלֶךְ עִיר מְלוּכָה — Sanctuary of the King, the Royal City.” “הִתְנַעֲרִי מֵעָפָר קוּמִי \ לִבְשִׁי בִּגְדֵי תִפְאַרְתֵּךְ עַמִּי — Arise, get...
In his first comment, Rashi opens his study of Chumash by repeating a medrash that asks why the Torah start with creation rather than with the first commandment to the Jewish People: הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה...
by Micha Berger · Published February 5, 2017 – ט׳ בשבט תשע״ז · Last modified February 5, 2017
Someone named Ray asked on Mi Yodea (in part), “What is the special fundamental significance of the number four that God’s primary Name has four letters”? I liked how my answer came out, so...
by Micha Berger · Published December 27, 2016 – כ״ז בכסלו תשע״ז · Last modified December 27, 2016
(Updated again for 2009, 2013 and now in 2016.) One line in Ma’oz Tzur I particularly love. The 5th verse of Ma’oz Tzur describes the Chanukah story. One phrase in this verse is “ufortzu...
1- Bereishis / Holidays / Torah as Growth
by Micha Berger · Published June 9, 2016 – ג׳ בסיון תשע״ו · Last modified June 9, 2016
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 April 26, 2016 – י״ח בניסן תשע״ו · Last modified April 26, 2016
Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto opens Mesilas Yesharim with this questionable claim: הקדמה – אמר המחבר: החיבור הזה לא חברתיו ללמד לבני האדם את אשר לא ידעו, אלא להזכירם את הידוע להם כבר ומפורסם אצלם...
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