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Parshat Hashavua

Sep 10, 2025

Maggid of Kozhnitz: Parshat Ki Tavo

saul orbach Leave a Comment

These new weekly insights on the parsha by Rabbi Shalom (Saul) Orbach are based on the teachings of the great Chassidic Rav, Yisroel Hopstein, otherwise known as the Maggid of Kozhnitz.

Avodat Yisrael on Parshat Ki Tavo centers on how we listen and follow through. He reads the parsha as a practical guide on Avodat HaShem L’Shem Shamayim: show up fully, shape your daily habits with purpose, and commit consistently, then blessing endures.

והיה אם שמוע תשמע, “If you will surely listen”. Start with real listening. Even learning פשט, the simple meaning, matters when it leads to action. We don’t need to know or learn the esoteric to be able to influence heaven or ourselves. What we hear and learn today shapes who we become tomorrow.

אשרי אדם שומע לי… לשקוד על דלתותי, “Happy is the one who listens… to watch at My doors”. In prayer, go past the דלתות, the inner and outer doors: bring full attention, guard what you let in through your ears, eyes, and mouth, and be present enough to mean what you say so that HaShem lifts you up.

ברוך אתה בעיר וברוך אתה בשדה, “Blessed in the city and in the field”. Make everyday life serve the higher goal of Avodat HaShem. At home and at work, set up your routines, meals, money, schedule, so they are L’Shem Shamayim, such that even ordinary acts can become part of your Avodah.

בדרך אחד יצאו אליך ובשבעה דרכים ינוסו לפניך… ושמרתם את כל דברי הברית הזאת, “By one way they come out against you and by seven they flee… You shall keep all the words of this covenant”. Choose steady effort over quick fixes. ושמרתם, Keep: stay ready and expectant; ועשיתם, Do: follow through consistently. That combination is what turns hope into the lasting change of a new reality.

To expand on this summary of the Avodat Yisrael, view the source sheet Avodat Yisrael D7 Ki Tavo 5785, perfect for those who want to self-learn at their own pace.

Parshat Hashavua

May 22, 2025

Behar - Behukotai 5785

Rabbi Johnny Solomon Leave a Comment

There are many ways to understand the commandment of: “and your brother shall live with you” (Vayikra 25:36). In particular, according to the Maharal (Drush Na’eh L’Shabbat HaGadol), we learn from the word ‘with you’ (imach) that, ‘the Jewish people are considered as one person’ (klal Yisrael nechshavim k’mo adam echad). Of course, this insight echoes Rashi’s commentary to Shemot 19:2 where we are told that the Jewish people stood at Mount Sinai “like one person, with one heart” (k’ish echad b’lev echad). In fact, perhaps this is why Rashi, quoting the Torat Kohanim, opens his commentary to Parshat Behar by stating how all the mitzvot, including the mitzvah of Shmitta, were given at Sinai, in order to remind us that just we stood together at Sinai, so too, there are certain mitzvot (including “and your brother shall live with you”) which require that we be consciousness of the fact that ‘the Jewish people are considered as one person’. Reflecting on this mitzvah, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains (in his commentary to Vayikra 25:36), that this requires that we be aware that, ‘the life of your brother is bound up with you; that is, the whole development of his life, and the fulfilment of his mission in life, are bound up with you and with the development of your life. You do not live only for yourself.’ Accordingly, we learn from here that there are mitzvot that each individual Jew must keep which includes consideration for the wider Jewish people and an awareness of the fact that ‘the Jewish people are considered as one person’. Until the Jewish people entered the land of Israel, Mount Sinai was the single location where we, as the Jewish nation, stood as ‘one person’ (k’ish echad). But since entering the land of Israel, there is just one place in the world which has the potential of bringing about the unity of the Jewish people: Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city “joined together, where the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, as a testimony to Israel, to give thanks to the Lords Name” (Tehillim 122:3-4), and it symbolizes our yearning to unite as a people. As the Malbim explains (in his commentary to Tehillim 122:6): ‘The core concept of Jerusalem is the unity of the people’. And so, in the days between Yom Yerushalayim and Shavuot we should do whatever we can to come together as a people because, as Rabbi Yisrael Hopstein, the Maggid of Kozhnitz, explains in his ‘She’erit Yisrael’: ‘Just as the Jewish people come together in love and with an awe of God, so too will Jerusalem be built.’ Shabbat Shalom! Rabbi Johnny Solomon

Parshat Hashavua

Sep 26, 2024

Parshat Nitzavim-VaYelech 5784

Rabbi Johnny Solomon Leave a Comment

A new covenant with the land By Rabbi Johnny Solomon The phrase Chazak Ve’Ematz – ‘be strong and be determined’ is found twice in Parshat VaYelech. The first is when Moshe summons Yehoshua in front of the entire Jewish people and tells him, ‘Be strong and be determined (Chazak Ve’Ematz) for it is you who will come with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their forefathers to give them’ (Devarim 31:7), while the second is when Moshe or God speaks with Yehoshua privately, telling him, ‘Be strong and be determined (Chazak Ve’Ematz) because you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them’ (ibid. 31:23). You will note that I used the words ‘Moshe or God’, and this is because the speaker in Devarim 31:23 is a matter of debate. According to the Ibn Ezra (on Devarim 31:15), since Devarim 31:22 involves Moshe, it seems that Devarim 31:23 was said by Moshe. Contrasting this view is that of Rashi (on Devarim 31:23) who understands that these words were said by God and were a continuation of God’s speech starting at Devarim 31:16 (nb. see Ramban on Devarim 31:23 who quotes both views while then endorsing Rashi’s interpretation). If we adopt Rashi’s approach, what this means is that Yehoshua is twice blessed and given chizuk – once by his mentor Moshe, and once by God directly. However, as Rabbi Menachem Klein notes in his Sha’arei Shlomo commentary on the Torah, this then raises a different question.

The patriarchs and the land

When Moshe speaks to Yehoshua in Devarim 31:7 and tells him to be strong and determined, he states that Israel is, ‘the land that the Lord has sworn to their forefathers to give them’. But then, when God (according to Rashi) speaks to Yehoshua, He tells him that, ‘you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them’ (ibid. 31:23). As Rabbi Klein explains, this second verse implies that a separate promise was made by God to the people about the possession of the land above and beyond the promise God made to our forefathers. But as Rabbi Klein then adds, ‘we don’t find any place (in the Tanach) where God promises the land directly to the people’. Instead, whenever the promise of the land is mentioned in the Torah, it is always with reference to the patriarchs. Rabbi Klein’s answer to his question is based on the idea that even though God promised the land to the patriarchs He knew from the very beginning that this particular generation would be the one who enters and conquers the land and that this knowledge, as the Rambam teaches us in Hilchot Teshuvah 5:5, is part of the mystery of God’s foreknowledge. Accordingly, incorporated within the promise of the land to the patriarchs was a promise to this generation of Am Yisrael. I would humbly like to suggest a slightly different answer to this question while reflecting on the command Chazak Ve’Ematz (be strong and be determined) and the two ways in which a people can acquire a land: through being given the land, and through acquiring the land.

The value in fighting for something

Yes, our patriarchs were promised the land of Israel as a gift, and until this point when Moshe brought the people to the border of the land of Israel it was this promise which bound the people to the land. However, Yehoshua was about to lead the people into the land and the people were about to conquer the land. They would conquer it because it was theirs on the basis of the covenant forged between God and our forefathers, but by conquering it, the land would become theirs as well. And so, God’s words to Yehoshua of ‘be strong and be determined (Chazak Ve’Ematz) because you shall bring the Israelites into the land that I promised them’ capture this major shift of relationship towards the land of Israel as a result of the efforts soon to be made by the people to conquer the land of Israel. It has been said that we value what we fight for. Yes, the people valued the land which they’d been given by God. But they valued it more when they knew that they’d need to fight for it. As we all know this year has been filled with pain, loss and struggle. At the same time, this year has shown us how much we value the land of Israel, what we are prepared to do in order to protect our people and our land, and how each time we are called upon to defend our land, we forge a new covenant with the land. As we end this year and begin another, I thank you for your ongoing encouragement and support and may we be blessed to hear good news with the return of our hostages and peace and security in the land. Shabbat Shalom & Shana Tova!

Parshat Hashavua

Sep 18, 2024

Parshat Ki Tavo 5784

Rabbi Johnny Solomon Leave a Comment

Bikkurim & The Presence of God By Rabbi Johnny Solomon

This Shabbat we read Parshat Ki Tavo which describes the ritual of bringing the Bikkurim to the Kohanim in the Beit Hamikdash. Alongside this, we are in the month of Ellul during which Selichot are recited and which has at its core the י''ג מדות הרחמים (the 13 Attributes of Mercy (that Hashem taught Moshe in Shemot 34:6-7).

From first glance these two texts appear to have little in common. One concerns the physical bounty of First Fruits which farmers joyfully brought as gifts to the Kohanim, and the other is the formula for heavenly forgiveness about which we are told that “whenever Israel sins, let them do (יעשו) this [the Thirteen Attributes] in its proper order and I will forgive them” (Rosh Hashanah 17b). However, as the Meshech Chochmah (Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk) points out in his commentary to Devarim 26:11, there is more to this than meets the eye.

The Bikkurim and 13 Attributes of Mercy

In the Parshat Bikkurim, we find God’s name being mentioned on thirteen occasions, and just a few verses after the 13 Attributes of Mercy appear in Shemot 34:6-7 we are taught that ‘the first of your land’s early produce shall you bring to the Temple of God’ (Shemot 34:26). According to the Meshech Chochmah these two factors means that there is a strong connection between these two ideas. However, like the greatest of movies, he leaves the reader with this cliffhanger leaving it for us to work out what the unifying idea is.

To do so we must return to the above mentioned Gemara which states that “whenever Israel sins, let them do (יעשו) this [the Thirteen Attributes] in its proper order and I will forgive them” (Rosh Hashanah 17b). While some have translated the word יעשו as ‘say’ as if to mean that the mere recitation of these verses achieves forgiveness, a more correct translation is that we should emulate God by ‘doing’ these 13 attributes of Mercy, meaning that we should be compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in kindness and truth, preserve kindness and forgive others.

Gifting those in need

Understood this way, Bikkurim takes on an entirely new identity. Rather than merely being the gift of First Fruits, it is actually the gift of the farmer’s choicest produce to a person in need (nb. Rambam writes that this rule applies in many other areas of life, and that when we feed or clothe the needy, we should give of our finest – see Issurei Mizbeach 7:11) and it expresses the compassion and graciousness that God wishes us to perform.

Moreover, the declaration made by the farmer when they bring their Bikkurim (see Devarim 26:5-9) itself supports this idea. We are told that when the Bikkurim were brought to the Temple, the farmers would recount how God saw the affliction of the Jewish people in Egypt and how He redeemed them from slavery. Ultimately, what the farmer is saying is that just as God was there for those in need, so too their gift of Bikkurim emulates God by bringing their best produce as a gift to others.

While we may recite the 13 attributes of Mercy in selichot, the laws of Bikkurim provide us with an inspiring example of ‘doing’ acts of mercy by giving to others, and by placing His name 13 times in the portion of Bikkurim, God teaches us that He is most present when we give of our best to others. Shabbat Shalom!

A note from Rav Johnny: As you may know, I provide online spiritual coaching and halachic consultation services as #theVirtualRabbi exclusively through WebYeshiva. To find out more, and to book a free discovery call, visit https://webyeshiva.org/about-virtual-rabbi/

Parshat Hashavua

Sep 12, 2024

Parshat Ki Tetze 5784

Rabbi Johnny Solomon Leave a Comment

Chessed & Derech Eretz (Ki Tetze) By Rabbi Johnny Solomon Among the various stories and laws recorded in Parshat Ki Tetze is a description of how Bnei Yisrael’s treatment by the nations of Amon & Moav: ‘An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Hashem; even to the tenth generation none belonging to them shall enter into the assembly of Hashem forever, because they didn't meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Bilam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you’ (Devarim 23:4-5). According to the Ramban, the structure of these verses is intentional so as to teach us that it was the Ammonites who did not provide Bnei Yisrael with bread and water, while it was the Moabites who demonstrated their ill-will by hiring Bilam to curse Bnei Yisrael. However, this then raises a question: Bnei Yisrael received their daily portion of heavenly manna in the merit of Moshe, while they drank from the miraculous well which accompanied them in the merit of Miriam. Given this fact, why did it matter to them that the Ammonites did not provide them with bread and water? They already had food and water?!

Showing common courtesy

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 34:8) answers this question and while doing so provides us with a remarkable lesson about derech eretz (common courtesy): ‘Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Elazar said: “Who was it that did not perform chessed (kindness) for those who were not in need of chessed? The Ammonites and Moabites towards Bnei Yisrael, as it is written: “because they didn't meet you with bread and with water” (Devarim 23:5). But did Bnei Yisrael need additional bread and water? Is it not so that during all those forty years that Bnei Yisrael were in the wilderness that the manna fell for them, the water arose for them, the quail was provided for them, the clouds of glory surrounded them, and the pillar of cloud traveled before them? Rather, it is derech eretz that one greets travelers with food and drink. And how did the Holy One blessed be He repay them as a result? “An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of Hashem” (ibid. 23:4). From here we can infer an a fortiori (kal vachomer). If God punished those who did not perform chessed for those who were not in need of chessed, then someone who does not perform chessed for one who is in need of chessed, all the more so [that God will punish them].”’

How to perform chesed

Clearly this teaching provides us with a powerful mussar lesson regarding how we must show derech eretz both to those not in need of chessed, and especially towards those in need of chessed. In fact, the Midrash then proceeds to explain that we learn from Avraham (who performed chessed by giving food to the angels even though they did not need food – see Bereishit 18:8), and from Boaz (who performed chessed by giving food to Ruth who was in need of food - see Ruth 2:14) how the performance of chessed brings rewards & blessing to those who do so. With this in mind, and as we near towards Rosh Hashanah, now is the opportune time not only for us to upgrade our general behaviour to ensure that we act with derech eretz, but also to look around our local communities while asking ourselves what acts of chessed can we perform - especially for those in need. Shabbat Shalom!

Parshat Hashavua

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