Mitzvos
Charity: how much, to whom, and its power.
Rebbe Meir’s wife, Bruriah, had a sister who was kidnapped and held captive. At Bruriah’s urging, Rebbe Meir resolved to rescue her. He reasoned that the captive sister’s righteousness would bring about a miracle to…
The 2000 presidential election was one of the closest contests in U.S. history, ultimately hinging on the results in the state of Florida. In that state, George W.
Chinese auctions are very popular fundraisers. The first question is why it is called a Chinese auction. Did this type of insanity really begin in China? Doubtful.
Rebbe Chiya was a teacher of Torah. (Bava Metzia 85b) The Gemara relates how Rebbe Chiya personally oversaw the entire harbotzas Torah process from the very beginning. He would plant seeds. Not seeds of Torah!
The Gemara in Bava Kama (92) says that whoever davens for his friend and he needs that same relief, he will be answered first. Does this mechanism work even though one knows that he will be answered first?
Yom Kippur and Purim may seem like two very different holidays, but there is actually a deep connection between them. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a solemn occasion on which we fast and seek forgiveness for our…
The daughter of the emperor once said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, “You are the epitome of magnificent Torah, but it is stored in an ugly vessel!” Apparently, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya was an unattractive man.
The story is told of a man who approached a rabbi. He said to him, “Why are you always so machmir? Every time I ask you a question, the answer is always that it is forbidden.” The rabbi said, “I’m surprised to hear you…
One time, when all of Bnei Yisrael came up on pilgrimage (oleh regel) to Jerusalem, there was no water available for drinking. Nakdimon ben Gurion approached a certain lord and said to him: “Loan me 12 wells of water…
There are over 700 brands of bottled water currently on the market in the United States. Each brand claims to offer the perfect water taste. In ancient times, one would have assumed that there was no choice of water.
Rav Shmuel Eliezer HaLevi Eidels, more commonly known as the Maharsha, was Rosh HaYeshiva in Austroha. At one point due to the great influx of talmidim to his Yeshiva, the community decided to erect a larger building.
The Gemara in Brachos (18b) records a particularly interesting incident. A pious man gave a poor man a dinar on Erev Rosh Hashana during years of famine.
The pasuk says (Bereishis 18:3), “And he [Avraham Avinu] said: ‘My master, if I found favor in your eyes, please pass not away from your servant.’” Rashi on Shavuos says that the simple explanation of “My master” is…
The survival of the donkey would be too great a blow to Bilam’s dignity. The Gemara is replete with examples of the sensitivity we must have even to individuals who may have sinned.
The Gemara (Pesachim 87b) records a conversation that Hashem had with Hoshea HaNavi that is not mentioned at all in Tanach. Tosfos and Rashi both explain, however, how this conversation is alluded to in the verses.
Devin McLean and his store manager were about to close the AutoZone store in York County, Virginia, where they work when a gunman barged in.
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai dreams his nephews will lose 700 dinarim, so he has them give tzedakah. The Kaiser’s officers take only the 17 that remain.
A rosh yeshiva helps JEP's Rabbi Dovid Shenker win a bequest, and gift after gift to his own yeshiva arrives first, matching JEP's money almost to the dollar.
After 24 years, Kalba Savua asks the great Rabbi Akiva to annul his vow, learns Rabbi Akiva is his son-in-law, and gives him half his money.
On his deathbed, Mar Ukva finds he gave 7,000 gold dinars to charity. "My provisions are light," he says, and gives away half his remaining wealth.
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai meets Nakdimon ben Gurion's daughter gathering barley from dung, and asks where her father's great wealth has gone.
A poor man secretly spent almost all he had to honor the Maharsha with a yeshiva's cornerstone, hoping for a child; the Maharsha blessed him, and a son was born.
A young man turned $3,000 into nearly a million, gave generously, then lost it all. He asked Rav Pinchas Scheinberg why his tzedakah had not protected him.
A pious man gives charity in a famine, flees his wife's anger to a cemetery on Rosh Hashanah night, and overhears two spirits reveal the year's decree on crops.
