Mesukim Midvash is a compendium of Torah articles published in 2003-2004. Each issue of this publication, the complete set of which covered the entire Torah, contains essays on Machshavah, Mussar, and Tefillah. It was published for a year, but the content is timeless. Enjoy!
See pp 10-11 from a booklet put out by R Hadar Yehudah Margolin, available at www.dafyomi.co.il/lectures/reviis/kuntras-kzayis.pdf What we call "Chazon Ish Shiurim" is a mistake. The measures given for the [...]
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 08:38:03AM -0400, Zvi Lampel via Avodah wrote: > Rabbi Berel Wein z"l with a different nuance: > https://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/post-2225 ... > [On the other hand.] [...]
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 Joel Rich posted: From, The Paths of Providence -Chaim Gross: One of the hallmarks of modernity was the adoption (in the 18th and 19th > centuries) [...]
I suppose it depends what happens with the bones. Do the bones themselves decompose with the soft tissue, or not? If they do, it's just an accelerated version of the [...]
. R' Joel Rich asked: > A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging > practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space > shortages. The process [...]
RJIR in Avodah V44n18: > A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space shortages. The process involves natural organic [...]
A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space shortages. The process involves natural organic reduction transforming bodies into nutrient-rich [...]
From, The Paths of Providence -Chaim Gross This articulates one of my deepest frustrations: One of the hallmarks of modernity was the adoption (in the 18th and 19th centuries) of [...]
The difference between the pathway of Judaism for the masses and the pathway of Judaism for the individuals. The many possible levels of the pathways for the individuals.Subsequent episodes will [...]
A BHP Productions video on the Parasha.Shabbos HaGadol (but primarily about the avodah of Pesach!).https://chat.whatsapp.com/I4CFQwInPXNATfQSMNOeRV [...]
https://youtu.be/3XQ1DldJTXI?si=0dAe5GCQH_ucAEo3Forgive the hyperbole, but as noted in the excerpt I often say with only the slightest exaggeration that this essay is the most important piece of Jewish Thought written in [...]
Please consider donating for Elik's Widow and Childrenhttps://kehilatpardes.app.neoncrm.com/forms/bereavement [...]
How to use imagery and imagination to experience Yetzi'as Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt)From Hachasharas Ha'Avreichim by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Piaseczno Rebbe זי"ע הי"ד. [...]
Rav Kook for People who are not Adherents of Rav Kook's Thought: Orot part 64Subsequent episodes in the series will be linked in the comments here.Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook's [...]
A remote shiur given via WhatsApp to the Buseta Synagogue community in Uganda. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071282243572 [...]
A recording for the BHP daily Halachic Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS [...]
Rav Dessler on the Uniqueness of Mitzrayim and Ongoing Geulah from Mitzrayim(The first Michtav Me'Eliyahu on Pesach in volume 2.) [...]
Austritt Then and Now — What Institutional Separation Actually MeansA post from the new TIDE blog. [...]
What Is Torah Im Derech Eretz? A Reader's GuideA post from the new TIDE blog. [...]
A Report Card from the Torah Im Derech Eretz School in Interwar Riga, LatviaA post from the new TIDE blog. [...]
The Shi'urei Da'as (Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch zt"l)on the Pesach Seder: Why It Is Bereft of Pageantry? [...]
Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This EpisodeRischa D'Araisa Season 12 Episode 27:https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/115498The Iran War:Yetziah Through Mitzrayim with Rabbi Ari KoretzkyShiites, Sunnis and Sufis:Islam's Historical Relation to Judaism [...]
Insights into the Fast of the Firstborn (Ta'anis Bechoros) and How Much Does a Bechor Have to Eat at the Siyum? A recording for the BHP daily Halachic Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GS [...]
This image is actually toned down from his original thumbnail!Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This EpisodeRischa D'Araisa Season 12 Episode 26:Hatzolah Call:Rischa's Rapid Response to the Viral Video on Lakewoodhttps://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/115230You can see the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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״. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
: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. [...]
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 [...]
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.”* [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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“, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]