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!
Some time back the following was posted The Rambam writes in 3 places in the Perush Hamishnayos (Sanhedrin 10,3; Sotah 3,3; Shavuos 4,1) and in the Sefer Hamitzvos lo taaseh [...]
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> > >> the commandment is for us to admonish our fellow Jew, not to bring > about his or her repentance This is an important statement, but is it [...]
The old shuls in Passaic were built before WWII and sold well before the Yeshiva Gedolah and the revival of Jewish life in Passaic Park. When they were built, Passaic [...]
> > The RaMBaM seems to rule that we not humiliate sinners but only when we > begin > He writes Techilah > and in Teshuvah he writes that the [...]
The RaMBaM seems to rule that we not humiliate sinners but only when we begin He writes Techilah and in Teshuvah he writes that the sinner requires to be embarrassed [...]
On Tue, Sep 02, 2025 at 08:44:13PM -0400, Joel Rich wrote: > From hakira: >> In your experience, does emunah require more than pure rationality? > > R. Schachter: Yes. [...]
>From hakira: In your experience, does emunah require more than pure rationality? R. Schachter: Yes. just as rationality is enough for the fact that George Washington was the president of [...]
Rischa D'araisa Season 12 Episode 3:"Torah Only" in Eretz Yisroel?The Trap of Perfectionismhttps://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/107082Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This Episode [...]
First, see our post from some ten years ago on the pouring of lead: Blei Gissen.https://rygb.blogspot.com/2015/01/finally-soure-for-blei-gissen.htmlA person who is involved in these lead procedures explained their perspective to me (in [...]
My review article published inJournal of Modern Jewish Studies Volume 24, 2025 - Issue 2https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14725886.2025.2468231?scroll=top&needAccess=trueBuilding communities. A history of the eruv in Americaby Adam Mintz, Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2023, 187pp., $26.95, [...]
https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/106909Play EpisodeDownload EpisodeSupport This EpisodeRischa D'Araisa Season 12 Episode 2: Crossing the Red Line Into Cancellation:The Bais HaVaadRav KookProf. Shaul LiebermanRav Yosef Blau [...]
New Series! The Medieval Cherem including Cherem d'Rabbeinu Gershom Part 1: Rabbeinu Tam's CharamimThe Medieval Institution of Cherem, including Cherem d'Rabbeinu Gershom: Local, Regional and Global enactments (takkanos) from the times of [...]
What if You Made a Beracha Without a Kippa? and,Do Married Women Have to Cover their Heads to Make a Beracha? A recording for the BHP daily Halachic Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/Gz8rrxqRcfy9rMOXRLG6GSA [...]
From Sefaria, some the of the creatures from the aggadata of Rabba bar ChanaDecoding the Aggadah: Literal vs. Metaphorical Interpretations #shorts - YouTubehttps://youtube.com/shorts/d-GnVbhiRQ0?feature=shareThis clip captures in brief a basic approach [...]
Dear Yeshivat Sha’alvim Alumni (1970–1985), We are excited to share a meaningful project undertaken by fellow alumnus Rav Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer shlit”a. Rav Bechhofer has digitized and made available 43 rare [...]
https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/106326 [...]
In a weltanschauung of limited Bechirah, how do we regard Sins, and how do we understand Repentance? Teshuva in the world of Izhbitz and LublinWith some novel insights into Tzaddik [...]
Iggeres D'Rav Sherira Gaon, part 38:Iggeres 2 part 2, Iggeres 3 part 1:More Amazing Stuff on Honorifics!➧ Rabba and Rava, the two different Abbas!➧ The abbreviations that were contracted into [...]
A second, less famous, but no less basic and fascinating letter of Rav Sherira Gaon to Kairouan.Lots of fundamental stuff on who's called by his name, who is called Rabban, [...]
https://listen.jewishpodcasts.fm/yeshivaofnewark/105753Rischa D'Araisa on the Humanitarian Crisis in GazaThe humanitarian crises in Gaza are a result of the terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Hamas’s continued behavior [...]
To See the Land of IsraelA BHP Productions video on the Parasha. Parashas Va'Eschanan. https://chat.whatsapp.com/I4CFQwInPXNATfQSMNOeRV [...]
Tisha B'Av and Viktor Frankl(and some Rav Dessler too!) Introductions to Selected KinnosFrom the Kinnos of Tisha B'Av 5785 at Cong. Ohaiv Yisroel of Blueberry Hill, under the auspices of [...]
לבי לבי על חלליהםמעי מעי על חלליהםYosef Gavriel Bechhofer is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.Tisha B'Av Divrei HisorerusTime: Aug 3, 2025 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom [...]
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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 [...]
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 [...]