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ואל יבא בכל עת אל הקדש

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Acharei Mos, 5776

He shall not enter at all times into the sanctuary. (16:2)

The only time that the Kohen Gadol was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies was on Yom Kippur – the holiest day of the year – the day set aside for spiritual atonement. Our parsha begins with the mention of the deaths of the two righteous sons of Aharon HaKohen and follows with the laws concerning the Yom Kippur service in the Temple. Chazal derive from this juxtaposition that the deaths of the righteous have an atoning effect similar to that of Yom Kippur. Likewise, we find a similar statement made by Chazal, noting that the mention of the…

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Home -> Vayeishev -> 5777

וישראל אהב את יוסף מכל בניו...ויראו אחיו כי אתו אהב אביהם מכל אחיו וישנאו אתו ...ויקנאו בו אחיו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In 5777, Vayeishev

Now Yisrael loved Yosef more than all of his sons…His brothers saw that it was he whom their father loved most of all his brothers so they hated him…So his brothers were jealous of him. (37:3,4,11)

Clearly the story of Yosef and his brothers is one of the most difficult passages in the Torah to understand. One must view everything which occurs in the Torah and the Torah’s description of these events through a spiritual lens, understanding full well that the actions of our ancestors are beyond our understanding, and completely inexplicable from a simplistic, secular perspective. Do we even have an idea concerning the spiritual persona of Yosef HaTzaddik – or his brothers, the Shivtei Kah? In a passage of the Midrash (Midrash Eileh Ezkerah), Chazal say the following: “Rabbi Yishmael said, ‘When I returned…

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