by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | May 26, 1987 | Bamidbar
This week’s parsha begins: “And the L-rd spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the tent of meeting …” (Num. 1:1). We may ask: why does it say “in the desert”? We know that the tent of meeting was in the desert! An answer is...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | May 5, 1987 | Shavuot
The Torah, in describing the Giving of the Law, says: “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet G-d, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain” (Exod. 19:17). The actual Hebrew for the last phrase is: “Visyatzvu BESACHTIS hahar”,...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Sep 16, 1986 | Sukkot
In the Gemora (Avoda Zara 3) there is an agada about an event which has not yet happened. One day, in the future, when it becomes clear how beneficial the mitzvos are for our welfare in this world and the next, the nations of the world will go and complain to G-d:...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Jul 1, 1986 | Behar
In this week’s parsha, we learn about the mitzvah (commandment) of the “shmita” year. “When ye come into the land which I give unto you, then shall ye keep a sabbath unto the L-rd. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Jul 1, 1986 | Behaalotcha
In this week’s parsha we learn about a remarkable mitzvah, namely Pesach Sheni. Some men were unable to keep the mitzvah of the korban pesach (sacrifice of the paschal lamb) because they were unclean from the body of a dead person. (In fact, says Sforno, they...
