YU TORAH Toronto Torah: Behar-Bechukotai 5775

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NAALEH.COM Parshat Bechukotai: Blessings of Torah By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

In Parshat Bechukotai, the Torah lists the rewards for following in Hashem's path. While discussing this week's parsha, Rabbi Reichman uses the commentary of the Shem MiShmuel to explain these rewards and what exactly is incumbent upon us.

NAALEH.COM Parshat Behar: Personal and Communal Commitment to Torah By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

In this shiur (Torah class) Rabbi Hershel Reichman discusses the Shem MiShmuel's comparison between shemitah and yovel and explains the difference between the individual's and the community's commitment to Torah. This Torah class is available online in streaming video and for download in mp3 and ipod video formats.

NAALEH.COM Parshat Behar: Relinquishing the I By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

Rabbi Reichman continues his discussion of the Shem MiShmuel's theme of the individual vs. the community, focusing on how the individual manages to be part of the community without losing his self. This Torah class is available online in streaming video and for download in mp3 and ipod video formats.

RABBI WEIN ON BECHUKOTAI 5775

The book of Vayikra concludes this week with the Torah reading of Bechukotai. It presents rather stark choices to us. Blessings and disasters are described and it is apparently our behavior, actions and lifestyles – all of which are within our range of life choices – that will determine our individual fate and national future. It appears to be an all or nothing scenario with the Torah providing us with little or no wiggle room. And since the stakes are so high and the consequences of failure are so dire, the challenge before us is doubly daunting and even frightening.

RABBI WEIN ON B’HAR 5775

The emphasis that the Torah places on the location – Mount Sinai – where Moshe received the Torah and its commandments, and the particular commandment regarding the observance of a sabbatical year, has been an issue of much interest to the commentators on the Torah over the ages. Rashi, quoting the famous rabbinic dictum, states that the words “Mount Sinai” indicate to us that just as this particular commandment of the sabbatical year was taught to Moshe on Mount Sinai so too are we to understand that all of the commandments of Judaism emanate from the revelation at Mount Sinai.

RABI WEIN ON POLLS AND PUNDITS

It has been a tough month for the political experts amongst us. There were two major elections that commanded international interest and media coverage. One was here in Israel and the second one just concluded in the United Kingdom. In both instances the media, in the main, was heavily biased towards the Left. Isaac Herzog, Tzipi Livni and their left of center Zionist Union party was adored by most of the print and television media here in Israel, as well as in the United States and the Western world.