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What Is the Torah’s View on Birth Control?
The first mitzvah in the Torah is given to Adam: pru u’reveu u’maleh et ha’aretz. “Be fruitful and multiply and fill up the land”. From these words our sages derived that there is an obligation to have children, one that is so highly regarded it is called a ‘mitzva rabbah’. Indeed, family and the home…
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Vayechi: Knowing the Strengths of Our Children
Yaakov Avinu, the esteemed father of the Shivtei Kah, gives each of his twelve sons final words of blessing and guidance in this week’s parsha. It is powerful to learn through the pesukim and view Yaakov’s vision of the potential of each of his children. Yaakov did not merely bless them as a group, as…
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Tamar: Unholy Actions, Holy Outcomes
In Parshat Vayeishev, we are introduced to Tamar, an exemplary tzaddeket who was as righteous as she was beautiful (Midrash Hagadol 38, 7) . Tamar was the daughter of Shem, who survived the great flood with his father Noach and brothers Cham and Yefes. We are introduced to Tamar in the context of her marriage…
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Vayigash: A Tzaddik’s Approach to Expressing Emotions
One of the most poignant scenes in Tanach is described in this week’s parsha. The two sons of the adored Rachel, close brothers separated for 22 years, reunite and cry on each other’s shoulders. On the surface, this is a beautiful expression of long pent-up emotion, the relief to see each other, the pain over…
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Comparing Chanuka and Shabbat Candles
“For the candle of Hashem is the soul of man.” (Mishlei 26:6) There is something so mesmerizing and transcendental about the flickering flame of a candle, that it merits comparison to the soul of man. There is a mitzvah to light candles every Friday afternoon to welcome in the holy Shabbat, and there is a…
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Miketz: Yosef, Establishing the Standards of Kedusha for the Jewish People
Throughout the pesukim delineating Yosef’s descent into Mitzrayim and his tenure in the debased Egyptian palace, one thing is made perfectly clear. Through all the ups and downs of his journey, Hashem was with Yosef and Yosef was highly cognizant of this Divine Assistance. Such clarity and faith Yosef had, that when his terrified brothers…
