Learning Mussar
- Excerpts from Chapter 4 “Frumkeit”
- Chapter 13: Summary: Removing the Impediments
- Chapter 14: Summary: A Short Guide to Mussar Study
Mussar Practice
- Chapter 5: Hislamdus [Teaching Oneself / Taking Lessons from Life] (ve’adim)
Toby Katz responding to my post, re Kitniyot during Pesach, wrote that corn and peanuts are both New World foods They were unknown at the time the Kitniyos ban was [...]
The Chafetz Chaim in Seder Olam chapter 11 takes the Gmara in Chulin 105 concerning Shmuel and how often to inspect one?s property as a metaphor for how often to [...]
. R' Joel Rich asked: > My Thought -While it certainly is true that we need to believe that > hkbh has a plan and can reverse everything kheref ayin, [...]
My Thought -While it certainly is true that we need to believe that hkbh has a plan and can reverse everything kheref ayin, we need to guard against the possible [...]
Very interesting. I?ve heard him tell the same story, but I think the punchline was that even if the reasons were not strong, the psak was right (more of a [...]
RHS told the following story many times in shiur. The Chasam Sofer would write his teshuvos and leave them on the desk for his son, the Ksav Sofer, to review [...]
On Tue, Apr 30, 2024 at 7:26PM Micha Berger wrote: > ...I didn't directly mention that M[inchas Yitzchak. Rather, I repeated > that > RAW himself named him as an [...]
Corn and peanuts are both New World foods that were unknown at the time the ban on kitniyos was first promulgated, and logically? should not be banned for that reason, [...]
Listen on:iTunesSpotifyStitcherPodbeanAmazonRischa D'AraisaSeason 9Episode 11Yom Ha'New ShoahIs the Wound Too Fresh?https://jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/79949Please click on this link to contribute whatever you can to keep this podcast on the air: https://thechesedfund.com/yeshivaofnewarkpodcast/keeping-the-ark-afloat With downloads approaching the million mark-and [...]
I will be sharing this post widely, to cast as large a net as possible.Planning forReb Avrohom Eliyahu Kaplan זצ"ל זי"ע's100th Yahrzeit15 Iyar, Wednesday Evening, May 22I would like to [...]
New Series!Nach b'Iyun Sefer Shoftim, part 1:1.1-5: Yehuda and Shimon vs. Cana'anFocusing on the Malbim and the Bigdei Shesh.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFO8jqjXCHk?si=A2AI0TJXbW3ZYuQs]Links to subsequent segments in the series will appear in the [...]
The Jewish Week part 1(The Gates of the Jewish Calendar part 29)"A Jew lives with the parashah." First in a series on the week, its days and its ramifications.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbw-JhIMdVE?si=be2GsCGn5TrtcllW]Subsequent shiurim [...]
A recording for the BHP daily Halachic Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sxrAs2naCU?si=oTwAtulxcW5b9mQ8] [...]
The Great Pesach Calendar Problem! (The Gates of the Jewish Calendar part 28)Note that this is already a problem: This year Pesach is beginning after Chodesh HeAviv, the first month [...]
A considerable amount of family history and lore, of both the Bechhofer and Schochet families.https://cloud.3dissue.net/30937/30814/31092/110247/index.html [...]
The Yeshiva World of the 19th CenturyA talk to the Jewish History class of the Meoros High School for Girls in Orlando, Florida.From Volozhin to Telshe, touching on Litvishe and [...]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP9RhHBLHRY?si=IsY2o_izDpHdRFsP]A recording for the BHP daily Halachic WhatsApp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS [...]
Rischa D'Araisa Season 9 Episode 10:Pesach Special1. The Need to Kasher Stainless Steel2. The Imperative to become Klei Kibbulhttps://jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/78878Please click on this link to contribute whatever you can to keep this [...]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2CdgrqWnAE?si=Rmu4ZQzYzv-UUu8c] [...]
The Avodas Hashem of an EclipseA talk to the Meoros High School for Girls in Orlando, Florida before they went out to experience a Solar Eclipse.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SucFMW5huI?si=4LlRCiJVNcMSJuWL] [...]
A Shiur on the Thoughts ofHaRav Shlomo Fisher zt"l on EclipsesFrom the Derashos Beis Yishai[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_VMTLMOxU?si=-Nc7Icq31i_E3v5f] [...]
Eclipses and the Jewish Month (The Gates of the Jewish Calendar part 28)[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0h_rDEVpeg?si=ensgxv-crokblkkk]Subsequent shiurim in this series will be listed in the comments here. [...]
Rischa D'Araisa Season 9 Episode 9:Seeing With Rebbe Elimelech's Eye:A Tale of Channel 12's Two VideosOn Charedi Army Service and on Dor Yifrachhttps://jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/78244Please click on this link to contribute whatever [...]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcXeV-jueMg?si=Qef9dzw7ctp8bmo4]A recording for the BHP daily Halachic WhatsApp grouphttps://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS [...]
Here’s my theory about the origin of this minhag. My point here is not really about advocating for the minhag. I just feel a need to push back when people [...]
והיה רגיל להוכיח אותי על שראה שאינני משתתף בצערא דאחרינא. וכה היה דברו אלי תמיד שזה כל האדם. לא לעצמו נברא רק להועיל לאחריני ככל אשר ימצא בכחו לעשות. [My [...]
Micha’s note: The following was a post written to the Mesorah email list by Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel zt”l, a rebbe-chaver of mine (more: a rebbe who insisted on treating [...]
(I put these thoughts together for a reply for my daughter Gavi, who pointed me to a medrash that “everyone in her neighborhood” were talking about, but I then was [...]
“Poteach et Yadekha“, oil on canvasHaim Masliach, 2021 A comment by Ilana Elzafun* brought this Seforno to my attention. This week’s parashah (Lekh Likha), Bereishis 16:13, describes Hagar’s prayer to [...]
Dear R Dr Broyde (Cc: Avodah), Over Shabbos, I read your article about getting ChatGPT to discuss whether a kohein in a same-sex marriage may go up to duchen. I [...]
The chaburah at Zelmele’s Kloiz is now learning Derashos haRan, the third derashah. I wanted to continue a conversation we had there, in light of today being Tish’ah beAv. The [...]
Began Thursday, June 8th, 2023, at 8:00pm EDTat Zelemele’s Kloiz The chaburah at Zelmele’s Kloiz started the Ran’s third derashah Thursday, June 8th, 2023. It is now ongoing at our [...]
The Medrash about Qorach rhetorically asking of Moshe why a tallis that is made of tekheiles would need one more tekheiles thread for tzitzis ties the mitzvah of tzitzis to [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]