Category Archives: Devarim

Ha’azinu 5781

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MORE THAN JUST VIGOROUS EXERCISE

Taken from a discussion with Rav Hopfer

Rambam writes “when one does teshuva they must recite viduy (to confess their wrongdoing) in front of HaShem” in a different place he writes “It is a mitzvah to do teshuva in front of HaShem” . In both places Rambam underscores that both teshuva and viduy must be done in front of HaShem. The implication of this detail is that the words used in the viduy reflect that one is speaking to HaShem and not simply reciting a confession to oneself.

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Ha’azinu 5778

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ALL, AROUND THE TABLE

Eleven weeks ago when we embarked upon our journey into The Three Weeks of mourning, we read the haftorah from the first chapter of Yirmiyahu. Before launching into his warning of the impending destruction of the Bais Hamikdash and the subsequent exile, Yirmiyahu tells us that HaShem remembers the love that we demonstrated when we initially left Egypt. He remembers the love of our “kilulosayich” which is translated as bridal period. We left our home and followed HaShem into the desolate desert not knowing what we will eat, where we were going, how long we would travel, we just left every semblance of permanence to follow our Beloved. It was the greatest demonstration of our trust in Him. Just as the bride places her complete trust in her groom that he will pro-vide, we placed our entire trust in HaShem that He would provide. This trust and the closeness that it expressed will be remembered and cherished by HaShem in spite of the impending exile.

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Vayeilech 5780

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RETUNING OR RETURNING?

We currently find ourselves in the Ten Days of Teshuva which begins with Rosh Hashanah and concludes with Yom Kippur. Last week we used the analogy of the orchestra to address the theme of Rosh Hashanah as being the day on which we commit ourselves or perhaps recommit ourselves to the direction of HaShem as our conductor. With our commitment to Him, the Conductor is able to realize His vision and all the members of the orchestra together share in the creation of that vision.

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Vayeilech 5779

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GETTING TO THE ROOT

There are only a handful of Shabbosim who carry a second name. Our Shabos carries the name Shabbos Shuva or Shabbos Teshuva. The reason for the first variant is because the haftorah begins with the word Shuva, as Hoshea tells his people to return to HaShem. The reason for the second variant is because it is the Shabbos of the Ten Days of Teshuva. Question: Why then is Friday not called Friday Teshuva, and for that matter, every other day of this week?

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Nitzavim 5781

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TURNING TRAFFIC JAMS INTO SERENITY

The theme of Rosh Hashanah and its avoda is accepting upon ourselves the Sovereignty of HaShem as the absolute Sovereign of the universe. The expectation is to accept HaShem as our personal Master, our personal King. To accept His Sovereignty on a personal level means to live with the notion the same way we live with the notion of gravity. We understand gravity and live with it and anticipate its strength on a very actual level.

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Nitzavim 5778

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SHOFAR; BLOWING LIFE INTO THE WORLD

The theme of Rosh Hashanah is the coronation of HaShem as the Sovereign of the Uni-verse. Our avoda on this special day is to proclaim Him King. Our success is determined by the level of our commitment to Him as our Master. The questions begs; why does HaShem need our acceptance? Does He have any needs at all? If there is a need how can mortal Man provide that?

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