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Sukkah

Why does the Torah move us from Yom Kippur towards Sukkot, into the sukkah? The Maor VaShemesh calls it the tzila d’meheimnuta, the shade of faith. After the purification of Yom Kippur, we can receive God’s light only me’at me’at, little by little. The days of preparation and the week in the sukkah lead us toward the deeper deveikut of Shemini Atzeret.

Arba Minim

Having prayed to be inscribed and sealed for life, we take the arba minim on Sukkot. The Maor VaShemesh reads their names as a way of drawing down chesed for banei, chayei u’mezonei: children, life, and sustenance. Through the Four Species, we ask that dinim, harsh judgments, be softened at their source and that Divine mercy flow into the year ahead.  

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Use this source sheet for further exploration, complete with footnoted sources and a concise, footnoted bio of R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein (Ma’or Va-Shemesh) to enjoy this teaching at your own pace, perfect for self-learners.  Prepared by Rabbi Shalom (Saul) Orbach The Ma’or Va-Shemesh is a classic Hasidic commentary on the weekly portions and festivals by R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Kraków (1751-1823). A foremost later disciple, and for years the Shamash, of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, he emerged after his rebbe’s passing as a leading figure in the fourth generation of Chassidut and of Polish Hasidism. His Torah blends close reading of the Psukim with mystical depth, emphasizing Dvekut, heartfelt prayer, joy, and sanctifying the everyday, with a hallmark leadership ethic: the tzaddik sweetens judgment into mercy and draws people close.  

Parshat HaAzinu

In Parshat HaAzinu the Maor VaShemesh offers a remarkable way to understand notzer chesed, God “preserving kindness.” Sometimes God looks ahead to the teshuvah we have not yet done, the mitzvot we have not yet performed, and the person we have not yet become, and gives us kindness now because of that future. That gives these days of teshuvah a different perspective. Perhaps some of the blessings we received this past year were not rewards for who we were, but advances on who we might still become. Teshuvah, then, is not only about repairing the person we have been. It is about becoming the person God has been waiting for us to become.  

Shabbat Shuvah:

The Maor VaShemesh asks why the opening words of the Haftarah, “Shuvah Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha,” address all of Israel in the singular. Drawing on the Gemara’s teaching that a person should see the entire world as balanced between merit and guilt, he explains that teshuvah requires us to act as though the world depends upon us. Teshuvah may begin with the individual, but its consequences are collective: our choices affect our families, communities, and people in ways we may never know. During these days we naturally ask, “What do I need to change?” The Maor VaShemesh adds another question: How might the world change if I change?  

Yom Kippur:

The Maor VaShemesh asks why the people in the Temple courtyard fell to the ground when the Kohen Gadol pronounced the Divine Name on Yom Kippur, when that Name was pronounced in the Beit HaMikdash throughout the year. He explains that on Yom Kippur, the normally hidden light of Keter was revealed, a holiness so overwhelming that the people could not remain standing. He finds this hinted in the word “titaharu,” “you shall be purified,” whose numerical value, 620, equals Keter. Yom Kippur is therefore not only a day when we reach upward toward G-d through teshuvah, prayer, and fasting. It is also a day when G-d’s normally hidden light reaches down toward us. Purification is something we struggle to achieve, but it is also something G-d bestows upon us.  

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Use this source sheet for further exploration of Parshat HaAzinu, complete with footnoted sources and a concise, footnoted bio of R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein (Ma’or Va-Shemesh) to enjoy this teaching at your own pace, perfect for self-learners. Also, source sheets for Shabbat Shuva and Yom Kippur Prepared by Rabbi Shalom (Saul) Orbach The Ma’or Va-Shemesh is a classic Hasidic commentary on the weekly portions and festivals by R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Kraków (1751-1823). A foremost later disciple, and for years the Shamash, of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, he emerged after his rebbe’s passing as a leading figure in the fourth generation of Chassidut and of Polish Hasidism. His Torah blends close reading of the Psukim with mystical depth, emphasizing Dvekut, heartfelt prayer, joy, and sanctifying the everyday, with a hallmark leadership ethic: the tzaddik sweetens judgment into mercy and draws people close.  

In this week's Parsha, the Maor VaShemesh finds two lessons about spiritual growth hidden in different parts of Ki Teitzei. The first begins with the laws of Eishet Yefat Toar. Chazal explain that the Torah permits the beautiful captive as an accommodation to the yetzer hara. He asks a striking question: why would the exceptionally righteous soldiers who went to war require such a concession? Why would they even be tempted? The Maor VaShemesh sees the Eishet Yefat Toar as a mashal for the process by which we grow and overcome the yetzer hara. Sometimes we begin by doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Torah learning is his example. At first, we may not yet be capable of learning entirely lishmah, for its own sake, and so we are allowed to begin shelo lishmah, for less-than-pure reasons, because doing so can eventually bring us to something higher: mitoch shelo lishmah ba lishmah, from doing it for the wrong reasons, we can come to do it for the right ones. But there is also a danger in the success itself. Like the soldiers returning from victory, they can become caught up in the exhilaration of what they have accomplished while the motivations that brought them there remain imperfect. The Torah therefore builds in a period of waiting. We do not simply follow that initial desire. We stop, struggle with it, and begin stripping away the wrong motivations. What was initially shelo lishmah can gradually become lishmah. The Maor VaShemesh connects that process directly to Elul, a month for looking back at where and why we began, and working to transform it into something higher. His second teaching turns from our own growth to the way we respond to others. The command to return a fellow Jew’s wandering ox or sheep becomes an instruction for helping someone whose avodat Hashem has wandered from its proper path. But helping does not always mean correcting. If we know the person will listen, we should speak. If not, the Maor VaShemesh tells us to hold our words until the person is ready to seek and receive them. Together, the two teachings offer a striking perspective on spiritual growth. In ourselves, growth may mean beginning imperfectly, then having the patience and discipline to confront what still needs to change. With others, it requires a different kind of patience: knowing not only what someone may need to hear, but when they are ready to hear it.  

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Use this source sheet for further exploration of Parshat Ki Teitzei, complete with footnoted sources and a concise, footnoted bio of R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein (Ma’or Va-Shemesh) to enjoy this teaching at your own pace, perfect for self-learners. Prepared by Rabbi Shalom (Saul) Orbach The Ma’or Va-Shemesh is a classic Hasidic commentary on the weekly portions and festivals by R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Kraków (1751-1823). A foremost later disciple, and for years the Shamash, of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, he emerged after his rebbe’s passing as a leading figure in the fourth generation of Chassidut and of Polish Hasidism. His Torah blends close reading of the Psukim with mystical depth, emphasizing Dvekut, heartfelt prayer, joy, and sanctifying the everyday, with a hallmark leadership ethic: the tzaddik sweetens judgment into mercy and draws people close.

In this week’s parsha, Shoftim, the Maor VaShemesh gives us new insights into several familiar ideas. The parsha begins, “Shoftim v’shotrim titen lecha”, “Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourself.” Chassidic masters traditionally read this as relating to each one of us: we need judges and officers at our own she’arim, our gates, guarding our mouth, eyes, ears, and the other ways we interact with the world. The Maor VaShemesh takes this a step further. It is not enough to guard ourselves against doing what we shouldn't do. We must also examine how we do what we should do, judging even our yetzer tov, our good inclination, to make sure our Torah, tefillah, mitzvot, and good deeds are performed sincerely and with the right intentions. In the second piece, he returns to the simple meaning of the verse and to the judges themselves. If people genuinely want to serve Hashem and follow their judges, why should shotrim, officers, be necessary to enforce their decisions? His answer is a lesson about moral authority. When judges themselves live with righteousness and integrity, people see those values in action and willingly follow them. The judges themselves become the shotrim. The third piece offers a remarkable reading of “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” Even if you have already achieved a measure of righteousness, pursue more. Do not plant an asheirah beside the mizbeach, the altar, of your Torah, tefillah, kindness, and other good deeds by becoming proud of what you have achieved. And “do not erect a matzevah” becomes an instruction not to remain in the same matzav, the same spiritual place. Growth itself must never stop. Finally, the Maor VaShemesh offers two complementary readings of the two Torah scrolls a king was required to possess. One Torah accompanied him wherever he went; the other remained hidden in his treasury. He sees in them the visible and hidden Torah of a true teacher: how that person lives on the outside and the inner spiritual life that animates it. But he then goes further. A great teacher can open our eyes to dimensions of Torah that were always there, even after we have read the same words two or three times. There is Torah we know, and Torah we have not yet learned how to see. Four teachings, but perhaps one underlying challenge: never assume that what we see, in ourselves, in our leaders, or even in Torah, is all there is to see.  

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Use this source sheet for further exploration of Parshat Shoftim, complete with footnoted sources and a concise, footnoted bio of R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein (Ma’or Va-Shemesh) to enjoy this teaching at your own pace, perfect for self-learners. Prepared by Rabbi Shalom (Saul) Orbach The Ma’or Va-Shemesh is a classic Hasidic commentary on the weekly portions and festivals by R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Kraków (1751-1823). A foremost later disciple, and for years the Shamash, of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, he emerged after his rebbe’s passing as a leading figure in the fourth generation of Chassidut and of Polish Hasidism. His Torah blends close reading of the Psukim with mystical depth, emphasizing Dvekut, heartfelt prayer, joy, and sanctifying the everyday, with a hallmark leadership ethic: the tzaddik sweetens judgment into mercy and draws people close.

This week's Maor VaShemesh explores four seemingly different teachings that ultimately address a single question: How do we discover and remain connected to truth? Through community, humility, discernment, and authentic spiritual leadership, he shows that genuine closeness to Hashem is built not on appearances or inspiration alone, but on a lifetime of growth rooted in Torah and character. In the first piece, he explains that the Torah's unusual phrase asher tishme'un can be read as "when you gather," teaching that blessing emerges through dibbuk chaverim—learning, growing, and serving Hashem together. In the second, he explores the word Anochi, showing that a healthy sense of self can become either a blessing or a curse, depending on whether it serves humility before Hashem or personal pride. In the third, he reveals how our task is to uncover the hidden sparks of holiness within creation and thereby arrive at emet, the underlying truth. Finally, in the fourth piece, he explains that the Torah's warning about the false prophet is not primarily about miracles, but about misplaced trust, teaching that our surest protection is to attach ourselves to authentic Torah, genuine teachers, and communities whose character has been proven over time.  

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Use this source sheet for further exploration of Parshat Re'eh, complete with footnoted sources and a concise, footnoted bio of R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein (Ma’or Va-Shemesh) to enjoy this teaching at your own pace, perfect for self-learners. Prepared by Rabbi Shalom (Saul) Orbach The Ma’or Va-Shemesh is a classic Hasidic commentary on the weekly portions and festivals by R. Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Kraków (1751-1823). A foremost later disciple, and for years the Shamash, of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, he emerged after his rebbe’s passing as a leading figure in the fourth generation of Chassidut and of Polish Hasidism. His Torah blends close reading of the Psukim with mystical depth, emphasizing Dvekut, heartfelt prayer, joy, and sanctifying the everyday, with a hallmark leadership ethic: the tzaddik sweetens judgment into mercy and draws people close.