by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Mar 2, 2017 | Lifeline
Have you heard “Mitzvah” translated as a “good deed?” That’s incorrect, and this week’s reading proves it: not every good deed is a Mitzvah! A Mitzvah is something we are Commanded to do, from “Tzivui,” a command. When...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Feb 16, 2017 | Lifeline
Why are Jews hated? It comes from this week’s reading. “Why is it called Mount Sinai? It is the mountain where hatred [Sinah] descended upon the nations of the world” [Shabbos 99a]. The Medrash says that G-d offered the Torah to various other nations...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Feb 9, 2017 | Lifeline
Even after all of the miracles that happened on behalf of the Jews while they were still in Egypt, what happened at the crossing of the sea was that much greater. In the Passover Haggadah, we compare the plagues which afflicted the Egyptians in Egypt to what happened...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jan 27, 2017 | Lifeline
Moshe and Aharon go to confront Pharoah and demand that he release the Jews. Pharoah demands a sign, and, as Commanded, Aharon throws his staff on the ground in front of Pharoah , where it turns into a snake. Pharoah calls in his magicians, and lo and behold, they do...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jan 13, 2017 | Lifeline
Before his passing, Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, and then his own. Our Sages explain to us that each blessing is filled with prophetic insight, words which each brother in particular, the brothers overall, and all of their descendents, needed to hear. And when...
