A History of Mussar, part I
The Dawn of Mussar Why is Avraham our first forefather? It can’t be his independent discovery of Hashem as Creator and Lawgiver, as Sheim and Ever already established such a tradition. In fact, Yitzchaq...
Aspaqlaria Blog
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
There is a quote from the Christian Testament that it is easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than it is a rich man to get into heaven.It makes an...
Yom haAtzma’ut
A few years back, when Yom haAtzma’ut was also celebrated on Thursday 3 Iyyar, my father asked me what I thought about not saying Tachanun or saying Hallel. The choice of 5 Iyyar as...
Reasons for Mitzvos
There are three things we might be talking about when we ask about reasons for a mitzvah: (if it’s Torahitic:) the source in the pasuq directly or through derashah; the halachic mechanism by which...
A Use for Every Middah, part II: Two Dictionaries
Among the ideas I touched on in “A use for every middah” was that oftentimes the use is when dealing with others.It’s okay to be an “apiqoreis” and worry about Hashem not providing, when...
Purpose of Qorbanos, part II
“This is what is meant by the verse (Tehillim 89:7), “For who in the heavens can equal God, can compare with God among the divine beings?” Said the A-lmighty, “If I wanted a sacrifice,...
A quick but beautiful thought on tefillah
From a more neglected (compared to Adam I vs Adam II) part of The Lonely Man of Faith by R’ JB Soloveitchik zt”l (pg 58). R’ Soloveitchik describes the perspective of Anshei Kenesses haGedolah:...
Tum’ah and Taharah, part II
Rav Y Henken replied to my previous entry on this subject (repeated here for the benefit of Google). He wrote: See in my “New Interpretations on rhe Parsha” (Ktav) and also Shu”t Bnei Banim...
Tum’ah and Taharah
[From this week’s Shabat B’Shabbato by Machon Zomet. I found this devar Torah to be particularly Aspaqlaria-esque. See also my take on tum’ah from Mesukim MiDevash on Chukas.]POINT OF VIEW Ritual Impurity and Purity...
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