Friday
Aug202021
KEYS TO THE TREASURE CHEST
August 20, 2021Now is the time of reward. Hashem provides each Jew with all he or she needs - in abundance. * Your destiny reflects your origin, but where are you now?
Entries in Ki Seitzei (10)
Thursday
Sep122019
A GOOD COMPENSATION PACKAGE OR A REAL PARTNERSHIP?
Reward is not for someone who is obligated to work, but for one who binds himself in a kind of consensual, contractual agreement to work for specified compensation, such as a hired worker. We work now and get paid in a timely fashion. The next day, in fact – and even before that! * There is a deeper relationship in the grand enterprise of refining and settling the world, whereby we are partners in Creation.
Thursday
Sep122019
Is Hashem Withholding Wages?
A poverty-stricken Jew turned to G-d and cried out with a plea from the depths of his heart: “Master of the Universe, You are all-powerful and unconstrained. To You, a thousand years is considered as one day. To You, millions of dollars are just small change!
Thursday
Aug232018
FORGETTING IS THE MITZVAH!
One of the most unusual Biblical commandments is the one which can only be performed when one is unaware that he or she is performing it!
Thursday
Aug232018
DEALING WITH AMALEK ON SHLICHUS
I went to get some inspiration for my personal battle with Amalek and spoke with shluchos Mrs. Chani Beckerman of Beer Yaakov, Mrs. Marina Fein, housemother at Machon Chomesh in Moscow, and Mrs. Mushky Shiffman of Maaleh Efraim. I asked them how they handle the spiritual Amalek on shlichus, i.e., the coldness when it comes to doing mitzvos, the doubts, and those who “believe in their hearts.” I also spoke with the shlucha to Almaty, Kazakhstan, Mrs. Leah Cohen, who tells about her victory and revenge against the German Amalek, may his name be erased. * Presented for Parshas Ki Seitzei, which ends with the mitzva to remember what Amalek did to us
Tuesday
Sep132016
A CONDITIONAL DIVORCE
In a dramatic pronouncement, the Rebbe Rashab established that all T’mimim are soldiers fighting the wars of Dovid. When soldiers go to fight, they give a conditional writ of divorce to their wives. * A fascinating study about the gittin that soldiers gave their wives in the event that they did not return, about the rabbinic approach to the matter, and when the soldiers refused orders and did not give a divorce like this. * “When you go out to war” – Parshas Ki Seitzei.
Tuesday
Sep132016
SEND US MOSHIACH AND THE MOTHER BIRD!
“If a bird’s nest happens to be before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground, young birds or eggs, and the mother is roosting on the young birds or the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall surely send away the mother and take the young for yourself, so that it will be good for you and prolong your days.”
Tuesday
Aug132013
STONED TO DEATH WITH LOVE
The Talmud also states that G-d uprooted Mount Sinai and placed it over their heads and threatened to crush them (“stone” them) with the mountain unless they accepted the Torah! How can we reconcile these two diametrically opposite characterizations of the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Torah? Did they accept it willingly or did G-d have to threaten them with stoning?
Friday
Aug092013
YOU CAN BE LIKE REBBI, YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER
The Torah alludes to a tzaddik whose mortality can be traced solely to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, inheriting, as it were, the venom of “the bite of the snake.” * One has free volition to be entirely righteous, like Chanoch or Eliyahu, or Rabbeinu HaKodesh.
Friday
Aug312012
“I” FOR AN “I”
To be sure, the King is in the field. G-d—and His chosen human redeemer, Moshiach—is here and is waiting for us to seize the opportunity to do our part in making the Redemption a tangible reality. Moshiach is waiting for us to say, “We are ready for Moshiach!” And we express that readiness by accepting Moshiach as our leader, following his directives for an enhanced commitment to Torah and its commandments, permeated with a passionate desire to usher in the Era of Redemption.