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Intimate Knowledge of G‑d
Compassion Toward People
Splendor in Mind and Heart
Avodah
On ?second day? yom tov in chul someone said to me I must be sleeping better here than at home (Yerushalayim). I responded ?no, I sleep better in Yerushalayim where [...]
Posted on the door at a US shul. To All Seeking Tzedakah: We are eager to help you! In order to best do so, we ask that you please seek [...]
On Sat, May 09, 2026 at 08:32:21PM +0000, Ben Bradley via Avodah wrote: > Next, we can be sure that R Akiva died around the end or slightly > after [...]
Hadrian speant a lot of time suppressing us after the fall of Beitar. The plowing of the Har haBayis didn't happen at the same time as BK's Temple building project. [...]
Stating historical theories about events reported in the gemara without comparing all relevant data points in Chazal and then adding known external historical dates is prone to be misleading. This [...]
On Thu, May 7, 2026 at 4:34?PM Micha Berger via Avodah < avodah at lists.aishdas.org> wrote: > On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 12:00:12PM -0500, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote: [...]
On Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 12:00:12PM -0500, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote: > Most translations render "tur" as "row", but very unfortunately, most > people read that without realizing [...]
On Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 06:14:12AM +0300, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote: > The Aruch HaShulchan uses the phrase 201 times in the AHS. In only one of > [...]
Blogs
- YGB - יג"ב
- Aspaqlaria
- Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
- | Modern Uberdox
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Ihtesham Ali@ihtesham2005·8hA Norwegian neuroscientist spent 20 years proving that the act of writing by hand changes the human brain in ways typing physically cannot, and almost nobody outside her field [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
At Suburban Torah Center in Livingston, NJ [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Focusing on the Gemara in Eruvin 54a.Learning and mastering Torah would have been different had we stayed with the first Luchos. And why our current way is "better".L'fum tzara agra, [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This EpisodeRischa D'Araisa Season 13 Episode 4:Announcing the Rischa D'Araisa PrizesFor Literature and More!https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/117650 [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Can I Host Someone Who is Not Observant for a Meal on Yom Tov?(And What If He Touches the Wine?)A recording for the BHP daily Halachic Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
This is the current formulation of the core principles of theTorah Im Derech Eretz Movement and InstituteFollow this link to join our WhatsApp group:https://chat.whatsapp.com/FNbFs4JEXZkIzVNLJx3HuMWe have a nascent blog at:https://torah-im-derech-eretz.blogspot.comand are [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This EpisodeRischa D'Araisa Season 13 Episode 3:Rabbanim Lecturing and Teaching Women:The Difficulty of a Halachic Standardhttps://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/117359 [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Shavuos is not described as Mattan Torah in the Torah because it is is the anniversary of our marriage with Hashem; the custom to adorn shuls with flowers on Shavuos; [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Please join us for the webinar on Sunday 2 pm EDT on the topic of:The dreams, aspirations and goals of this group, in both an ideal world and in the [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
A recording for the BHP daily Halachic Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Rischa D'Araisa Season 13 Episode 2:Bekeshes, Frocks and Caftans:The Rishon LeTzionov:Do Clothes Make the Mensch?https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/117158Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This Episode [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
זוהר יומי, 5-10 דקות ליוםעד כמה שיותר ע"פ פשט: הרמב"ם לא למד את את חכמת הקבלה. אנחנו מנסים פחות או יותר לשחזר, אילו הרמב"ם למד את זוהר, איך היה לומד [...]
Maharal and Reb Yisroel Salanter: To Be Happy on Shavuos is a Chok: Why Mattan Torah Isn't Mentioned
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
According to the Maharal and Rabbi Yisroel Salanter the giving of the Torah on Shavuos was not necessarily a reason to be happy and that's why the Torah only calls [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Rischa D'Araisa Season 13 Premiere:כבוד זה לזהRespect and Honor in the Era of Trumphttps://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/116904Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This Episode [...]
- Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
A remote shiur given via Zoom to the Jewish communities in Uganda. [...]
- Micha Berger
The first thing you may notice about the middle, Shabbos-related, berakhah of Shabbos Minchah is that the opening parallels the berakhah immediately before it. אַתָּה קָדושׁוְשִׁמְךָ קָדושׁ!וּקְדושִׁים בְּכָל יום יְהַלְּלוּךָ [...]
- Micha Berger
Current events here in Israel have meant that I haven’t gotten a good night sleep between alarms and sirens, which translated to not writing here as often as I had [...]
- Micha Berger
The gemara on Berakhos 6a states something very intriguing: אָמַר רַבִּי אָבִין בַּר רַב אַדָּא, אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: מִנַּיִן שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַנִּיחַ תְּפִילִּין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״נִשְׁבַּע ה׳ בִּימִינוֹ וּבִזְרוֹעַ עֻזּוֹ״. [...]
- Micha Berger
Esther 8:16: לַיְּהוּדִ֕ים הָֽיְתָ֥ה אוֹרָ֖ה וְשִׂמְחָ֑ה וְשָׂשֹׂ֖ן וִיקָֽר׃ The Jews enjoyed light and joy, happiness and glory. The gemara (Megillah 16b) explains that each item on the list refers to [...]
- Micha Berger
Shabbos Mussaf The middle berakhah of Shabbos Mussaf begins with a rare acrostic — the Alef-Beis, but in reverse order: starting with ת and ending with א: תִּכַּנְתָּ שַׁבָּת רָצִיתָ [...]
- Micha Berger
Shabbos Morning Last time we looked at the opening of Friday night’s Amidah, today, the next Shacharis. (We will deal with the common portion of the middle berakhah for Shabbos [...]
- Micha Berger
Or: Starting Shabbos Now that I covered “the thoughts I have while davening Shemoneh Esrei the times I think while davening”, let’s move on to the Amidah for Shabbos. The [...]
- Micha Berger
The Torah only uses the phrase “לֹא־טוֹב / it is not good” twice:Once when Hashem created Adam before Chavah — “לֹא־ט֛וֹב הֱי֥וֹת הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְבַדּ֑וֹ / It is not good for [...]
- Micha Berger
:רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר הַקַּפָּר אוֹמֵר: הַקִּנְאָה וְהַתַּאֲוָה וְהַכָּבוֹד מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאָדָם מִן הָעוֹלָם Rabbi Elazar haKappar said: envy, desire and [the pursuit of] honor take a person out of the world. [...]
- Micha Berger
Moving on from Shemoneh Esrei proper to Elokai Netzor, the first question is: If it’s not really part of Shemoneh Esrei, just what is Elokai Netzor? I think the prayer [...]
- Micha Berger
In Nusach Ashkenaz, there are two versions of the last berakhah of the Amidah — in the mornings we say “Sim Shalom” and Minchah and Maariv we say “Shalom Rav.”* [...]
- Micha Berger
Or: Modim, part IV Modim ends, “בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ הַטּוֹב שִׁמְךָ וּלְךָ נָאֶה לְהוֹדוֹת – … Your name is ‘The Good’, and it is pleasant to praise You.” Yes, I [...]
- Micha Berger
Or: Modim, part III In the last installment, I noted how in Modim we thank Hashem “al …”, for, four things. And how this is an example of something we [...]
- Micha Berger
Or: Modim, part II In part I, we looked specifically at the word “Modim“, and how R Hutner shows it means here both “thanks” and “admission”. That the berakhah isn’t [...]
- Micha Berger
The next berakhah of Shemoneh Esrei, the center of the closing berakhos about gratitude is Modim. In this post we will look at the meaning of the opening word, “Modim“, [...]
- Micha Berger
Now that we completed the 13 berakhos Chazal labeled requests, we get to Retzeih, the first of the three berakhos of thanksgiving. For reasons I don’t know, it reads like [...]
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Nephesh Hachaim 1:13 1. T The things we say can also link celestial worlds, rectify this one, and interconnect with the upper worlds, as we’ll now see. After all, we’re [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Da’at Tevunot 3:7 (¶ 118 [middle]) 1. We’d do well to take something into consideration, Ramchal adds here. It’s that just because something or someone is imperfect doesn’t mean [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
The Way of G-d 2:6:4 1. G-d allowed for a prosecutor in His court, famously known as satan 1. His role is to argue against the accused, which them enables [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Nephesh Hachaim 1:12 1. R. Chaim already spoke 1 of the fact that we could only link celestial worlds, rectify this one, and interconnect with those upper worlds after we’d [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Da’at Tevunot 3:6 (¶ 118 [beginning]) 1. Ramchal reiterates here 1 that wrong is a created entity 2 that was only designed to last for as long as G-d wanted [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
The Way of G-d 2:6:3 1. Given the above, the fact is that G-d doesn’t judge the world according to His foreknowledge but rather according to the way He wants [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Nephesh Hachaim 1:11 1. Following up on the thought offered in the last chapter that despite our being connected to physicality we’re nevertheless superior to angels, R’ Chaim now [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Da’at Tevunot 3:5 (¶s 116 [end] – 117) 1. Ramchal says that he’s going to expand upon things he’d said above 1 and reveal things that are “deep” about [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
The Way of G-d 2:6:2 1. G-d appears in each Sanhedrin and court, influences it, and sees to it that justice is served 1. Now, in some instances [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Nephesh Hachaim 1:10 1. Given all of the above concerning our makeup and capacities, it’s reasonable to wonder whether angels are loftier than we are or we’re loftier than they. [...]
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Da’at Tevunot 3:4 (¶ 116 [beg.]) 1. Ramchal is about to offer something that will serve as a prelude to what’s to follow 1. It’s that even though G-d [...]
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Derech Hashem 2:6:1 In the course of His interactions with the world 1, G-d arranged it so that phenomena that affect both the things that humankind brings about 2 and [...]
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Nephesh Hachaim 1:9 1. Following through on the discussion of the previous chapter, R’ Chaim contrasts the situation of the generation that dwelt in the Sinai Desert 1 with that [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Da’at Tevunot 3:3 (¶’s 103- 115) 1. It seems logical, doesn’t it, that goodness would be a product of something that emanates goodness while wrongfulness would be a product of [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Da’atTevunot 3:2 (# 98 – 102) 1. Ramchal starts to explain the role of wrong and injustice in the world with a proposition derived from Rambam1. It’s that when G-d [...]
- bf61cd94975385fed8cbdd16766a3ee4
Nephesh Hachaim 1:8 1. R’ Chaim offers a rather complex discussion here about the positioning of the Cherubs in the Tabernacle and Holy Temple in order to illustrate his point [...]
- Neil Harris
The website 18FORTY has a fantastic and thoughtful multimedia post on OTD that is worth watching, reading, and listening to. If you are reading this then you know I don’t [...]
- Neil Harris
Spoiler, there isn’t much substance to I what have to say. Also, I am spoiling the end of the Skywalker saga. After reading an excellent essay by Rabbi Harry Maryles [...]
- Neil Harris
I checked my recent writing history today and the last legit post of mine was really 3.5 years ago. For some that’s a long chunk of time. In that time [...]
- Neil Harris
My wife’s comment on Simchas Torah pretty much summed it up, “I feel like this is the biggest tease for you.” You see, my mom a”h was niftar right before [...]
- Neil Harris
When today comes around I usually think about things my father missed since he has been gone. I decided that this year I’ll attempt to list a number of things [...]
- Neil Harris
Walking out of shul, the morning after Yom Kippur, a follow early Sunday morning riser casually said to me, “Back to normal, right?” I was taken off guard (and also [...]
- Neil Harris
I have started this post about 2 dozen times over the past 3 years and I never seem to get more than about 300 words written about why I stopped [...]
- Neil Harris
I want to share something that Rav Efraim Twerski said at his Shabbos HaGadol drasha. After starting off with 10 questions Rav Twerski said over an amazing Torah from Rav [...]
- Neil Harris
So, tonight’s the 6th yahrtzeit for my dad, Avraham ben Zorach a”h (Al, of blessed memory). Like everyone else that has lost a parent I lit my 24 hour yahrzeit [...]
- Neil Harris
“WARMED BY THE FIRE OF THE AISH KODESH– Torah from the Hilulas of Reb Kalonymus Kalman Shapira of Piaseczna” by Rav Moshe Weinberger and adapted by Binyomin Wolf is more [...]