A Jew  must understand that there are other needy people in the world. ( This is reference besides the charity that he was already given to the causes that are dear to him, idea is Reb. Mosha is trying to say that obligation of giving never stops as long as one takes for himself like…

(פסוק והביאור)כ״ה. נַעַר הָיִיתִי גַּם זָקַנְתִּי —וְלֹא רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק נֶעֱזָב, וְזַרְעוֹ מְבַקֵּשׁ לָחֶם. 25. “I have been a youth and also aged.”Ibn Ezra and Radak attribute this statement to the Psalmist, who declares, “After experiencing all phases of life, from beginning to end, I am equipped to make the following observation.”However, the Talmud (Yerushalmi 16b,…

Full Transcript of a 1981 SpeechA person must understand that there are other needy people in the world besides himself. The Torah established two kinds of obligations. One obligation is to give from what comes in — from income, from profit, from grain. But that is not enough. There is also an obligation to give…

The methods of acquiring humility, and the way this is made easier for a person, consist in keeping one’s thought and imagination focused on seven points.1. Reflect on Human Origin and Physical RealityA person begins as a drop of semen and blood, later becoming putrid and foul. He is sustained by impure blood in the…

TZEDAKAH AND GEMILUTH CHASADIM,ALMS AND CHARITYצדקה וגמילות חסדיםIf there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates, in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother: but thou shalt surely open thy…

The Gate of Self-Accounting demands that a person stop lying to himself. Not about grand ideals, but about daily conduct—how he lives among others, what he expects from the world, and how he interprets existence itself. The work confronts two areas people routinely evade: responsibility toward others, and sustained awareness of the order embedded in…

What the Jewish Festivals Teachand What Resolution They Aim to Evoke— Samson Raphael HirschPesachTeachingsGeneral:God rules over both Nature and the history of nations, separating day from night, life from death. In particular, the One God is Israel’s Creator and Saviour—Israel is God’s property, God’s servant.Resolution:To remain loyal as a rock to the One God in…

The need for special abstinenceIt is necessary for adherents to the Torah to practice abstinence, since the Torah’s aim is to enable the intellect to rule and prevail over all selfish desires. It is known that the predominance of desire over intellect is the beginning of all sin and the source of all disgrace.People incline…

Testing Gd by Giving Away Main source: Malachi 3:9–10Verse 9“You are cursed with a curse, yet you [continue to] steal from Me — the entire nation.”What the theft is (not metaphorical)Rashi:The theft is concrete: withholding ma‘aser and terumah owed to the Kohanim and Levites.Result: a curse on human effort — work continues, output collapses.Radak:This curse…

1.They traveled southward and reached the city close to the border, Be’er Sheva, which was sanctified by the memory of his fathers. There he offered זבחים.2.We do not find elsewhere that our patriarchs offered זבחים. Like all the other descendants of Noach, they offered only עולות. Whereas עולה expresses complete personal devotion to God, זבח…