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Haggadah: Unlimited Vision

“Feels right to me.”

“Sounds OK to me.”

Tags: Haggadah, Passover, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Seder, The Foundation Stone

Haggadah: Highs & Lows

It’s very difficult to keep a diary while moving so much and so quickly. So much has happened since I last wrote in you that I haven’t been able to update you. Sorry!

Tags: Haggadah, Passover, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Seder, The Foundation Stone

Haggadah: Perhaps He Is A Fool: from The Diary of A Former Slave V

The Egyptians have been outside since the Wild Beasts disappeared. They are learning how to do their own work, and they are not doing a very good job: their animals are dying. Some of them are pulling their animals

Tags: Haggadah, Passover, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Seder, The Foundation Stone

Haggadah: A New Connection: From the Diary of a Former Slave

When we walked outside this morning, we saw all the Egyptians scratching away. They were covered with lice. We all immediately ran to the local Sam HaChaim Pharmacy to pick up lice shampoo and sprays,

Tags: God, i-Love, i-Pray, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Shema, The Foundation Stone

The Music of Halacha: Pesach: Stuff

The opposites do not wait for Pesach to begin. We will act out the contradiction of freedom and slavery on the seder night, but most of us have already begun playing out the theme of contradictions: We complain

Tags: Haggadah, Music of Halacha, Tzeddaka

Haggadah: Repairs: Mitchila

Startling Scientists, Plant Fixes Its Flawed Gene

In a startling

Tags: Haggadah, Passover, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Seder, The Foundation Stone

Hachodesh: Chiddushei HaRim: Renewal

The 23^rd of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yitzchak Meir Alter of Ger (Chidushei HaRim) (1799-1866). The founder of Gerer dynasty, grandfather of Sfas Emes, Reb Yitz chak Meir was able to trace his lineage

Tags: Hachodesh, Parsha, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, The Foundation Stone

Ramban: HaChodesh: The Month of The Patriarchs

In essence, the Book of Shemot spans the Jewish people's exile and redemption. It begins with the descent of Yaakov and his household to Egypt and concludes with the exodus of our entire nation. Yet, almost

Tags: Hachodesh, Parsha, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, The Foundation Stone

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 170 – Concept 452

“If there shall be a Tzara’at affliction in a garment, in a woolen garment or a linen garment, or in the warp or the woof of the linen or the wool; or in leather or in anything fashioned out of leather (Vayikra 13:47-48)

Tags: Chassidic, Commandments, commentaries, Kabbalah, Midrash, Mitzvot, Parsha, Portion of the Week, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Responsa, Talmud, Taryag, The Foundation Stone

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 169 – Concept 449

“And the person with Tzara’at in whom there is the affliction; his garments shall be rent, the hair of his head shall be unshorn, and he shall cloak himself up to his lips; he is to call out, ‘Contaminated, Contaminated!’

Tags: Chassidic, Commandments, commentaries, Kabbalah, Midrash, Mitzvot, Parsha, Portion of the Week, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Responsa, Talmud, Taryag, The Foundation Stone

Shabbat Prayers: Shabbat Mevarchim IV

“He Who performed miracles for our forefathers and redeemed them from slavery to freedom; may He redeem us soon and to gather in our dispersed from the four corners of the earth; all Israel becoming comrades.

Tags: Kiddush Levana, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rosh Chodesh, Shabbat, Shabbat Mevarchim, The Foundation Stone

Shabbat Prayers: Shabbat Mevarchim III

“A life in which we will have love of Torah in fear of Heaven.” Although we have already prayed for the gift of Fear of Heaven just a few sentences earlier, in this phrase we are requesting an entirely different level

Tags: Kiddush Levana, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rosh Chodesh, Shabbat, Shabbat Mevarchim, The Foundation Stone

Amidah: Divrei Binah: Sustenance: A Defining Moment

“Bless on our behalf, God, our Lord, this year.” A complete blessing can fall only on that which has achieved a certain quality of completion. The Zohar describes a day lived to is fullest as a complete day.

Tags: Amidah, God, i-Attach, i-Pray, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Shmone Esrei, Tefillah, The Foundation Stone

Tehillim Tools: Psalm 109:2-4: All My Words Are Prayer

“For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me, they have spoken to me the language of falsehood. And with words of hatred they have encircled me, and attacked me without cause.

Tags: Bible, Midrash, Psalms, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, spirituality, Tehillim, The Foundation Stone, Tools for Growth

Shir ha-Shirim VIII: The Maze

Another explanation: “The Song of Songs,” this bears out what the verse says, “And more so because Kohelet was wise (Ecclesiastes 12:9).” Had any other man composed them, it would have been incumbent

Tags: Bible, Midrash, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Shavuot, Shir Hashirim, Song of Songs, The Foundation Stone

The Maggid

Some of my father’s favorite stories were about the years he spent as a Maggid. I had asked him where he found so many of the rare books in his library and he told me that his Rebbi, Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner zt”l,

Tags: Haggadah, Passover, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Seder, The Foundation Stone

Parshat Hachodesh: Thoughts

It shall be that when you come to the land that God will give you, as God has spoken, you shall observe this service (the Passover sacrifice). It shall be that when your children say to you, “What is this service to you?’

Tags: Hachodesh, Parsha, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, The Foundation Stone

Hachodesh: Forever Young

I found this essay saved on my computer. I didn’t write it, and I don’t remember who sent it in: Have you ever wondered why the very first commandment that G-d gives to the Israelites upon their flight from Egypt

Tags: Hachodesh, Parsha, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, The Foundation Stone

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 168 – Concept 446

“If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a s’eis, or a sapachas, or a baheres, and it will become a Tzara’as affliction on the skin of his flesh; he shall be brought to Aharaon the Kohen, or to one of his sons the

Tags: Chassidic, Commandments, commentaries, Kabbalah, Midrash, Mitzvot, Parsha, Portion of the Week, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Responsa, Talmud, Taryag, The Foundation Stone

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 167 – Concept 437

“Upon the completion of the days of her purity for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a sheep within its first year for an elevation offering, and a young dove or a turtledove for a sin offering, to the entrance of

Tags: Chassidic, Commandments, commentaries, Kabbalah, Midrash, Mitzvot, Parsha, Portion of the Week, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Responsa, Talmud, Taryag, The Foundation Stone

Shabbat Prayers: Shabbat Mevarchim II

“A life of wealth and honor.” The honor for which we pray is not our own, but the honor of Heaven. This is a prayer that we merit to live a life in which all we do brings honor to the Creator.

Tags: Kiddush Levana, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Rosh Chodesh, Shabbat, Shabbat Mevarchim, The Foundation Stone

Shemah: Divrei Binah: God’s Name in Our Hand

“Bind them as a sign upon your arm.” The most effective way to repair destructive thoughts is for a person to strive to be attached to God in everything he does; that nothing should be done without the sense

Tags: God, i-Love, i-Pray, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Shema, The Foundation Stone

Tehillim Tools: Psalm 107:8: An Extra Kindness to Miracles

“Let them give thanks to God for His kindness, and He's wonders to the children of man (Psalms 107:8).” “To the children of man,” all of the miracles and wonders that God shows the world are miraculous only to,

Tags: Bible, Midrash, Psalms, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, spirituality, Tehillim, The Foundation Stone, Tools for Growth

Shir ha-Shirim VII: Part Three: The Complete Poet

“And I applied my heart to seek and to explore, ve-latur, by wisdom “Ecclesiastes 1:13).” "Latur,” also has the sense of lehotir, to leave over. When a poet writes an alphabetical poem, sometimes he completes

Tags: Bible, Pesach, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Shavuot, Shir Hashirim, Song of Songs, The Foundation Stone

Countdown to Pesach 21: The Bread of Affliction

The Egyptians enriched themselves by oppressing others. They grew fat on the work and suffering of an enslaved nation. Chametz – Leavened Bread – represents those who enrich themselves at the expense of others. Matzah is the food of those who suffered,

Tags: Haggadah, Maggid, man & man

From Adam to Moshe: Shemini – Naming and Eating

The Holy One, Blessed is He, grabbed each type of species and showed it to Moshe, and He said to him: "This you may eat, and this you shall not eat". The Holy One, Blessed Is He,

Tags: Bible, Parsha, Portion of the Week, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, The Foundation Stone

Vavei Ha’amudim: Metzora – Blemish in the Skin

The 28^th of Nissan is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Shabsai Sheftl Horowitz II (1590-1660). The son of the Shelah Hakodesh, Reb Shabsai studied under his father and under Rav Shlomo Ephraim Lunshitz. After his father left

Tags: Parsha, Portion of the Week, Prayer, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Spiritual Growth, The Foundation Stone

Categories

Haggadah: Unlimited Vision

Haggadah: Highs & Lows

Haggadah: Perhaps He Is A Fool: from The Diary of A Former Slave V

Haggadah: A New Connection: From the Diary of a Former Slave

The Music of Halacha: Pesach: Stuff

Haggadah: Repairs: Mitchila

Hachodesh: Chiddushei HaRim: Renewal

Ramban: HaChodesh: The Month of The Patriarchs

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 170 – Concept 452

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 169 – Concept 449

Shabbat Prayers: Shabbat Mevarchim IV

Shabbat Prayers: Shabbat Mevarchim III

Amidah: Divrei Binah: Sustenance: A Defining Moment

Tehillim Tools: Psalm 109:2-4: All My Words Are Prayer

Shir ha-Shirim VIII: The Maze

The Maggid

Parshat Hachodesh: Thoughts

Hachodesh: Forever Young

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 168 – Concept 446

Parsha Mitzvot: Tazria: Mitzvah 167 – Concept 437

Shabbat Prayers: Shabbat Mevarchim II

Shemah: Divrei Binah: God’s Name in Our Hand

Tehillim Tools: Psalm 107:8: An Extra Kindness to Miracles

Shir ha-Shirim VII: Part Three: The Complete Poet

Countdown to Pesach 21: The Bread of Affliction

From Adam to Moshe: Shemini – Naming and Eating

Vavei Ha’amudim: Metzora – Blemish in the Skin

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