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You shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart… And these words… shall be upon your heart. (6:5,6)

The pasuk tells us that one should love Hashem with all of his heart. This is followed by the  admonition  to  place  “these  words”  on one’s  heart.  A connection  must  exist between the two “hearts” mentioned. The Sifri asks how does one manifest his love for Hashem? The Almighty is not a mortal. He has no corporeality. How does one experience this sense of love? Chazal answer that the key lies in the words, V’hayu ha’devarim ha’eileh… al l’vavecha, “And these words … shall be upon your heart.” By inscribing Hashem’s words on our heart, we come to recognize, acknowledge…

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You shall love Hashem, your G-d. (6:5)

The Talmud Yoma 86b delineates between chillul Hashem, desecrating Hashem’s Name, and Kiddush Hashem, sanctifying Hashem’s Name. Four varieties of penance atone for the sins one commits. First is teshuvah, repentance, which atones without the need for added yissurim, pain and troubles. There are sins for which teshuvah requires Yom Kippur as an added penance. We have so far alluded to three forms of teshuvah: teshuvah alone; teshuvah with yissurim; teshuvah with Yom Kippur. One last sin goes beyond the parameters of teshuvah, yissurim and Yom Kippur. It is a transgression that is neither atoned for by Yom Kippur, nor…

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And you shall not steal. (5:17)

We live in a day and age during which the idea of theft has lost much of its aura of malevolence. Stealing used to be an anathema. Regrettably, people have discovered loopholes whereby what used to be evil no longer carries such a negative stigma. Horav Sholom Schwadron, zl, relates the story of a distinguished student of the Arizal, a wealthy businessman who owned two factories in Tzfas. In one factory, he employed only men; in the other factory, only women. One day, the student visited his revered Rebbe. When he entered the room, the Rebbe said, “I see on…

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“Please let me cross and see the good land that is on the other side of the Jordan.” (3:25)

A fascinating Midrash relates part of the dialogue between Moshe Rabbeinu and Hashem concerning his plea  that he be allowed  to  enter  the Holy  Land.  Moshe asked, “Ribono Shel Olam, the bones of Yosef HaTzaddik will enter Eretz Yisrael, and I will not enter?” (Why is Yosef different than I?) Hashem replied, “One who conceded, who acknowledged his Land, deserves to be buried there. One who did not acknowledge his Land is not buried there.” Chazal note that when Potifar’s wife failed in her attempt to seduce Yosef, she cried out, “Look! He brought us a Hebrew man to sport…

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