Emunah and Hashkafah
The righteous: their prayers, their power and how they lived.
The Gemara in Chullin (7a) records the remarkable journey of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair as he traveled to redeem captives. Along the way, he arrived at an inn where his donkey was offered barley.
Daf Yomi learners have become very familiar with the Rashbam. His commentary replaced Rashi’s for most of Bava Basra. At the end of Eruvin, the Mordechai (528) recounts an interesting incident involving the Rashbam.
A shepherd deserts his flock for a quick break. While he is gone, a wolf eats one of the sheep. To determine if the shepherd is liable, we evaluate whether the shepherd could have fought off the wolf had he been there.
The great Rishon Rabbeinu Chaim HaKohen once remarked that had he already been born when Rabbeinu Tam passed away, he would have become tamei and gone to his funeral.
David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote an article entitled “The Moral Bucket List.” Soon after it was published, it climbed to number one on the list of New York Time’s most emailed articles.
Klal Yisrael is in a deep state of mourning for the Sar HaTorah, HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l. HaRav Binyomin Forst, shlit”a, remarked that we are no longer living in the same world.
There was a pregnant woman who smelled food on Yom Kippur. She developed a ravenous desire to eat. If she did not satisfy the craving, it was possible that her life or that of the fetus would be in danger (Yoma 82b).
Klal Yisrael suffered a tremendous loss last week with the passing of Moreinu Rav Dovid Feinstein, zt’l. There will be much written, be’H, about the gadol ha’dor.
Now that Chanukah is over, we turn our attention to the somber day of Asarah B’Teves, a community-wide fast. Nevuchadnezar laid siege to Jerusalem on the tenth of Teves.
There are well-known stories found in the Gemara that made it to the storybooks. Yet there are stories that are equally important but haven’t been publicized simply because they are not suitable for all audiences.
In Parashas Korach, Moshe Rabbeinu announced that the events that were about to unfold would establish clearly whether or not Korach was right in his challenge.
[Note: The following is based on a lecture delivered by the author’s father, Rabbi Yaakov Sebrow, shlita, at Chavurat Yisrael.] A pasuk in Bereishis (2:5) says, “Now any tree of the field was not yet on the earth and…
Rava disproves Rav Ilish's ruling and Rav Ilish is embarrassed, so Rava comforts him: Hashem made sure Rava was there the one time Rav Ilish would have erred.
Hillel had 80 students, some worthy of prophecy like Moshe Rabbeinu; the greatest, Yonasan ben Uziel, learned Torah so intensely that birds overhead were scorched.
Reish Lakish marks the graves of the Sages but cannot find Rabbi Chiya's. A Heavenly Voice tells him he learned like Rabbi Chiya but did not spread Torah like him.
On his way to redeem captives, Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair's donkey refuses untithed barley until the innkeepers separate maaser, teaching that Hashem guards the righteous.
In Gan Eden, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai asks Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi if a rainbow was seen in his lifetime. Out of humility, he says yes, though none was.
A pregnant woman craves food on Yom Kippur; Rebbi has them whisper that it is Yom Kippur, she holds back, and her son becomes Rabbi Yochanan.
