August 2022

The Sages of the Talmud (Brachos 33b) say “Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except fear of Heaven.” That is to say, that although… Read More »He’s Got the Goods

The Torah commands us to love and fear Hashem, and to serve Him with heart and soul. Ibn Ezra writes that love entails performing the… Read More »Avoda B’simcha

And it will be, if you hearken to My commandments that I command you this day to love HASHEM, your G-d, and to serve Him… Read More »Even More Mitzvos

This week we read the parsha of Eikev. “V’ha’yah aikev tishm’une ais hamishpatim… {And it will be ‘eikev’ you will accept the judgments…}.[7:12]” The word… Read More »The Reward Will Be In the End

Arise, descend quickly…for your people…have become corrupt…they have made themselves a molten image…I have seen this people, and behold! It is a stiff-necked people. Release… Read More »Stubbornness Kills

The silly person in the following story makes four halachic mistakes. Can you find them? Can you think of how the story is connected with… Read More »Birkas Hamazon – Grace After Meals

Rabbi Shimon said: Three people who ate at the same table and did not speak words of Torah are as if they had eaten from… Read More »Chapter 3, Mishna 4(c): Body or Soul? Part III

One of the greatest challenges we face in life is being trapped in the rut of our personal shortcomings. As time progresses, we become more… Read More »Falling Off the Horse

Moshe’s discourse to the children of Israel at the end of his life continues in this week’s parsha. I think that it has to be… Read More »Follow the Leader

Eikev, the name of this week’s parsha, can also be read okaiv, “heel”. Regrettably, there are some commandments that are dismissed as ‘minor’. That inevitably… Read More »Downtrodden