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Tchortkov: Visiting a Tzaddik

The 18th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Nachum Mordechai (ben Yisrael) Friedman (1946), Tchortkover Rebbe [Adar II].

Tags: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Religion, Serving God, Spiritual, The Foundation Stone, Tools for Growth

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 158 – Concept 321: Rav Chanoch Henoch of Alexander

The 18th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Chanoch Henoch (ben Pinchas) HaKohen of Alexander (1798-1870). A direct descendent of the Shach, he was a disciple of Rav Simcha Bunam of Pshis'cha, Rav Menachem Mendel

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

Prayer Skills: Regel Yesharah: Kavanot: “Ani”

The 17th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Gedaliah Lipshutz, author of Regel Yesharah, an anthology of Kabbalistic and Chassidic teachings. He died on February 24, 1826.

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

Rav Chatzkel Levenstein: Shemini: Come Close

The 18th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yechezkel (ben Yehuda) Levenstein, mashgiach of Ponevezh (1885-1974). Born in Warsaw in 1896 to Osminer Chassidim, he lost his mother at age 5. At 13, he joined the

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

Shemini: Rav Avraham Menachem of Alexander

The 17th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Avraham Menachem (ben Yehuda Moshe) Danziger, the ninth Admor of Alexander (1921-2005). The Alexander Chassidim, which outnumber all others in Europe except for Ger, all but

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

Amidah: Bet David: Birchat Kohanim

The 17th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi David (Tevele) ben Moshe of Minsk, Russia, the author of Bet David. He died on February 27, 1861.

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

Amidah: Redemption: Rav Schwab on Prayer

“And redeem us speedily for Your Name's sake.” This does not refer to the eventual Final Redemption at the time of the Messiah. Rather, this is a prayer for protection against the daily assaults, fears, apprehensions, and persecutions

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

Prayer Skills: A Principle of the Meiri

Transcribed and prepared by Chava Janovsky: Yesod from Meiri

This yesod

Tags: Prayer, Praying with power, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, The Foundation Stone

Shir ha-Shirim V: Part One: As If Done For Us

Another explanation: “Do you see a man diligent in his work,” this applies to Solomon son of David, who was diligent in the building of the Temple, as it is written, “He spent seven years building it (I Kings 6:38).”

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

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 161 – Concept 181

“These shall you abominate from among the birds, they may not be eaten; they are an abomination: the 1) nesher, 2) the peres, 3) the ozniah; 4) the da’ah,and the ayah according to its kind; 5) every orev according to its kind,

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

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 156 – Concept 323

“Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Elazar and Ithamar, ‘Do not leave your heads unshorn, and do not rend your garments that you shall not die and He become wrathful with the entire assembly (Vayikra 10:6).” A Kohen

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

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 160 – Concept 182

“And everything that does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the streams, from all that teems in the water, and from all living creatures in the water; they are an abomination to you. And they shall remain an abomination

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

Countdown to Pesach 27: Connections

Our group has made arrangements to share our Korban Pesach – Paschal Offering. One member of the group may add someone, but only to participate in his portion. (Pesachim 89b) The group may only cut

Tags: Haggadah, man & man

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 153 – Concept 461

“Any earthenware utensil into whose interior one of them will fall, everything in it shall become contaminated, and you shall break it, of any food that is edible, upon which water comes, shall become contaminated; and any beverage

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

Shir ha-Shirim IV: The Work of Desire

Another explanation: “Do you see a man diligent in his work,” this applies to Rabbi Chanina (the son of Dosa, a student of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai). A story is told that once, seeing the men of his town taking burnt offerings

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

Shema: Yesod v’Shoresh ha-Avodah

“And you shall love God, your Lord, with all your heart.” These five words obligate a person to infuse his heart with a mighty and passionate love for God. This love is a positive commandment. If a person will be weak in fulfilling

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

Shema: Rav Schwab: Overwhelming Compassion

The 14th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Shimon (ben Yehuda) Schwab (1908-1995). “You have shown us great and overwhelming compassion.” The word “Chemla,” meaning compassion, appears twice in the Torah.

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

Boyan: Shemini: Eighth Day Strivings

The 16th of Adar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yitzchak (ben Avraham Yaakov) Friedman of Boyan, founder of the Boyaner Chasidim, author of Pachad Yitzchak (1849-1917). “On the eighth day, Moshe called to Aaron and his sons,

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

Parsha Mitzvot: Parah: Mitzvah 397 – Concept 444: Fighting Justice

The Parah Adumah is an allusion to the Oral Law, the Attribute of Justice in its most severe form. This attribute is the source of ritual impurity. The reason why this chore was given to Elazar to perform was in order that he should

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

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 152 – Concept 459

“These are the contaminated ones among animals that teem upon the earth: the choled, the achbar, and the tzav, according to its variety; the anakah, the koach, and the letaah; and the chomet and the tinshemet. Only these

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

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 151 – Concept 179

“Only this may you eat from among all the flying teeming creatures that walk on four legs; one that has jumping legs above its legs, with which to spring upon the earth. You may eat these from among them: the arbeh according

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

Parah 3: Three Life Forces

The cow herself, though reminiscent of the Golden Calf’s mother, and thus indirectly responsible for her offspring, is pure; much as the soul is pure at entry into the human body.

Tags: Parah, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, Red heifer, Spiritual, The Foundation Stone

Countdown to Pesach 28: Fast Action

“They are all adulterers, their passions burning like an oven fired by a baker. The Inciter (Evil Inclination) rests from the kneading of the dough until its leavening.” (Hosea 7:4) Even if a person can quiet the Evil Inclination – Yetzer Harah – it will only rest

Tags: Chametz, Good & Evil, Hosheia

Categories

Tchortkov: Visiting a Tzaddik

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 158 – Concept 321: Rav Chanoch Henoch of Alexander

Prayer Skills: Regel Yesharah: Kavanot: “Ani”

Rav Chatzkel Levenstein: Shemini: Come Close

Shemini: Rav Avraham Menachem of Alexander

Amidah: Bet David: Birchat Kohanim

Amidah: Redemption: Rav Schwab on Prayer

Prayer Skills: A Principle of the Meiri

Shir ha-Shirim V: Part One: As If Done For Us

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 161 – Concept 181

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 156 – Concept 323

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 160 – Concept 182

Countdown to Pesach 27: Connections

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 153 – Concept 461

Shir ha-Shirim IV: The Work of Desire

Shema: Yesod v’Shoresh ha-Avodah

Shema: Rav Schwab: Overwhelming Compassion

Boyan: Shemini: Eighth Day Strivings

Parsha Mitzvot: Parah: Mitzvah 397 – Concept 444: Fighting Justice

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 152 – Concept 459

Parsha Mitzvot: Shemini: Mitzvah 151 – Concept 179

Parah 3: Three Life Forces

Countdown to Pesach 28: Fast Action

Shemini: The Pig’s Teshuva

Meshech Chochma: Shemini

Shemini: Sefat Emet: God Will Appear

Elana d’Chaya: Preparing for Pesach

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