Why the Middle Matzah?
So, I was asked in the middle of the second seder: Why do we break the middle matzah for Yachatz? Is there some significance to it being the middle matzah? Here was my off-the-cuff answer,...
by Micha Berger · Published April 17, 2014 – י״ז בניסן תשע״ד · Last modified April 17, 2014
So, I was asked in the middle of the second seder: Why do we break the middle matzah for Yachatz? Is there some significance to it being the middle matzah? Here was my off-the-cuff answer,...
Pesach-time it’s common for people to start discussing how much matzah and wine one is obligated to eat, so why should I be any different? What are we trying to compute? The definition of...
by Micha Berger · Published March 13, 2014 – י״א באדר ב׳ תשע״ד · Last modified March 13, 2014
לַיְּהוּדִים הָיְתָה אוֹרָה וְשִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשֹׂן וִיקָר. For the Jews, there was light, happiness, joy and preciousness. – Esther 8:16 קִיְּמוּ וקבל [וְקִבְּלוּ] הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם וְעַל זַרְעָם וְעַל כָּל הַנִּלְוִים עֲלֵיהֶם וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר לִהְיוֹת עֹשִׂים...
by Micha Berger · Published December 4, 2013 – א׳ בטבת תשע״ד · Last modified December 4, 2013
Ask someone why we celebrate Chanukah, and of course the first answer out would be about the miracle of the oil lasting eight days. This allowed the reconsecration of the Beis haMiqdash to be...
by Micha Berger · Published September 13, 2013 – ט׳ בתשרי תשע״ד · Last modified September 13, 2013
(Updated after Rosh haShanah 5774 with idea from the Tanchuma.) The Ramban, in his Derashah leRosh haShanah, writes that a shofar is a keli, a formal utensil in the halachic sense. For this reason,...
We can consider the rasha, the evil child, to be a failed chakham (the wise one). He is engaged with the laws of Pesach, but unlike the first child, he rejects them. The third son, the tam, is...
by Micha Berger · Published March 1, 2013 – י״ט באדר תשע״ג · Last modified March 1, 2013
I have heard many derashos discussing the linkage between parashas Tetzaveh and Purim, which usually falls out around the week of Tetzaveh. Typically involving the discussion of the kohein‘s uniform in Tetzaveh and all...
by Micha Berger · Published October 4, 2012 – י״ח בתשרי תשע״ג · Last modified October 4, 2012
I discussed the following medrashim in more detail in Mesukim MiDevash for parashas Pinechas and in earlier blog posts “The Origins of Imperfection” and “Simchas Beis haSho’eivah“. In this post, I want to look...
by Micha Berger · Published September 24, 2012 – ח׳ בתשרי תשע״ג · Last modified September 24, 2012
We don’t feel a need to observe Mother’s Day, because the mitzvah of kibud av va’eim means that every day is Mother’s Day. – Rabbi Shpitzer, my 5th grade rebbe This sentiment is far...
by Micha Berger · Published September 13, 2012 – כ״ו באלול תשע״ב · Last modified September 13, 2012
“Aspaqlaria: Aseres Yemei Teshuvah” (49 pages) is a collection of essays adapted from those that appeared here on the subjects of teshuvah, shofar, vidui, and the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. It is in Adobe Acrobat...
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