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“Remember this day on which you departed from Egypt…Today you are leaving in the month of springtime.” (13:3-4)

We are enjoined to remember the liberation from Egypt and to relate it constantly. Interestingly, the Torah seems to emphasize the  fact  that  we  were  redeemed  b’chodesh  ha’aviv,  in  the spring. This is part and parcel of the geulah, liberation. It must be stressed again and again that we left during the spring. Rashi explains that we were redeemed in the spring, at a time when it is not cold or hot, or rainy. Indeed, at a time when the climate is perfect. When we think about it, however, the fact that we left Egypt in the spring is secondary to…

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Say to Aharon, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt.” (7:19)

People are always searching for that magic elixir that will grant them everlasting happiness – and they do not succeed in finding it. They go for therapy sessions and take vacations in the most remote and exotic places in the world, yet the secret continues to elude them. Why? Because they are missing a fundamental point, a crucial lesson about life, human nature, and G-d. Without this point, they will never be truly happy. They are missing the attribute of hakoras ha’tov, gratitude. The concept of gratitude is probably the most important lesson a person should internalize and integrate into his…

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“G-d spoke to Moshe…So Moshe spoke accordingly to Bnei Yisrael; but they did not heed Moshe, because of shortness of breath and hard work…Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them regarding Bnei Yisrael.” (6:2,9,13)

Rashi explains that Hashem commanded Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon to lead the people gently, to sustain them. We wonder how the events described in the text follow one another. First, Hashem gave an introduction regarding the Bris, Covenant, that He established with the Avos, Patriarchs, promising Eretz Yisrael to their descendants. Moshe related this news to Klal Yisrael, who did not listen to him because of the suffering they had endured under Pharaoh. Why, then, did Hashem command Moshe and Aharon to lead the People gently? What was to be gained from leading them gently, if Pharaoh continued to torture them?…

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“Let it be that the maiden to whom I shall say, ‘Please tip your jug so I may drink,’ and who replies, ‘Drink, and I will even water your camels,’ her will You have designated for Your servant, for Yitzchak.” (24:14)

The Bais HaLevi submits that Eliezer tested Rivkah in two areas. First, he sought to ascertain if she was a gomeles chesed, one who performs kindness, by giving drink to someone whom she did not know. Of special interest to Eliezer was the fact that she did not have a cup for him. He would have to drink directly from the pitcher. She did not know  if he had germs that would contaminate her pitcher. Would she still offer him to drink, or not? Second, and of extreme significance, is what she would do after Eliezer drank from the pitcher. What…

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“Sarah’s lifetime was…” (23:1)

Life is a gift, a precious gift from Hashem. In the Talmud Gittin 64a, Chazal teach us the signs for determining a young child’s maturity level. If one gives a child a stone and he proceeds to throw it away,but he keeps a nut which he has been given, it indicates that his mind is beginning to develop. If one gives him an object which he is prepared to return to its owner after a while, it is a clear sign that he is mature. In other words, the ability to distinguish between what is a gift and what is…

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“And the she-donkey turned away from the road and went into the field … and the angel of Hashem stood in the path of the vineyards, a fence on this side and a fence on that side … and (the angel) stood in a narrow place, where there was no room to turn.” (22:23,24,26)

Rashi cites the Midrash Tanchuma which explains that the angel’s threefold appearance symbolizes that Bilaam’s efforts to curse the Jews, descendants of the three Avos, Patriarchs, were all in vain. It was as if each time a different Patriarch blocked the path of Bilaam’s donkey. The first time the angel appeared, ample space remained for the donkey to escape on either side. This indicated that had Bilaam wished to curse Avraham’s descendants, he would have had two options. He could curse the offspring of either Avraham’s son, Yishmael, or of Avraham’s wife, Keturah. He was not, however, permitted to curse…

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“And (the stranger) saw that he could not defeat him (Yaakov), he touched the upper joint of his (Yaakov’s) thigh, and Yaakov’s hip joint became dislocated as he wrestled with him. Therefore Bnei Yisrael do not eat the displaced nerve. (32:26-33)

The Talmud, Chullin 90b, cites a difference of opinion between R’ Yehudah and the Chachamim regarding the prohibition of gid ha’nashe, the thigh muscle. The Chachamim state that this prohibition applies to the thigh muscle of both the right and left hind legs, while R’ Yehudah has the opinion that it applies only to the right hind leg. His reasoning is based upon the premise that the angel struck Yaakov on the right side. The Chachamim, in contrast, feel that he was struck from behind, affecting both sides. Since the prohibition is in memory of Yaakov’s struggle, what happened that…

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קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני

You shall be holy, for holy am I. (19:2)

Regardless of how we translate kedushah, holiness, it clearly represents a state of being which is above and beyond the usual. One may be good – wonderful – virtuous, whatever other adjective that comes to mind, but it does not mean that he is holy. It represents the next step. Once one has achieved all of the other appellations which define upstanding behavior – then there is kedushah, holiness. Interestingly, Kedoshim tiheyu, “You shall be holy,” is a mitzvah which is addressed to all of Klal Yisrael – not just a select few. Every Jew is enjoined to achieve a…

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ונתתי נגע צרעת בבית ארץ אחזתכם

And I will place a tzaraas affliction upon a house in the land of your possession. (14:34)

Chazal teach that, when Klal Yisrael was informed that their homes in Eretz Yisrael would be visited with plagues, it was actually good news. Apparently, when the Emorites who had inhabited the Holy Land heard that the Jews were coming, they hid all of their treasures in the walls of the houses. For forty years, as the Jews sojourned in the wilderness, the Emorites occupied themselves with hiding their gold and silver, lest the Jews find them. Now, when a Jew acts in such a manner that he deserves that a plague be delivered upon his house, it will ultimately…

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ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו... ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען

Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother’s son… and they left to go to the land of Canaan. (12:5)

Torah commentary is divided into four approaches. Each one delves progressively deeper into the esoteric background of a given situation, thereby lending the reader an unparalleled insight into the behind-the-scenes workings of occurrences which initially seem to mystify us. The fact that Avraham Avinu took his nephew, Lot, with him when he left for Canaan is one of those instances which baffle the reader. Lot was far from being a saint, which was evidenced later, when he chose to live in the plains of Sodom, despite the evil and corrupt nature of its inhabitants. Later on, when Lot separated from…

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