Aneinu Tefillos Needed

Yehuda Leib ben Fruma's surgery has revealed Kidney Cancer. His wife, Aneinu member Shoshana Chava bas Sara asks for your tefillos please. May Hashem bless them both with a refuah shlema.

OU TORAH Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part VIII

Chapter 3, part ii

Nachum Hosted Jewish Music Star Dovid Gabay to Discuss Dirshu’s Daf Hayomi B’Halacha and his Role in Dirshu’s Upcoming Siyum

Nachum welcomed Dovid Gabay to this morning’s JM in the AM to discuss Dirshu’s Daf Hayomi B’halacha and their upcoming worldwide siyum celebration. Dirshu’s first siyum for the Daf Yomi B’Halacha, the amazing culmination of the first cycle of world-wide daily learning of halacha via the Mishna Berurah will take place in March. Dirshu is a Torah Learning organization which is structured in a way that enables participants to properly internalize what they have learned in a way that they can remember it. The program provides learning schedules and guidance to help participants with their learning. Subsequently they provide testing to encourage review of the material. For more information please contact Dirshu at info@kolleldirshu.org or 888-5-DIRSHU ext. 141.

Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part VII

Chapter 3, part i

[Aneinu] Please Daven - Friday morning test

Please daven for Devorah Chana bas Zlata who is having a test early tomorrow, Friday morning, February 27th.

[Aneinu] Please Daven for Mekubal Rav David Kaduri Shlita

Yeshiva World News Tefilos are requested for Mekubal Rav David Kaduri Shlita, who was admitted in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Yerushalayim in serious condition on Wednesday night, 6 Adar. It appears the rav fell on Wednesday morning following shachris as he was leaving Beis Medrash Nachlas Yitzchak in the Bucharim neighborhood of the capital and fell down steps, sustaining a blow to his head. The rav is reportedly in a medically induced coma after undergoing serious brain surgery. The rav is a son of Rav Yitzchak Kaduri ZT”L ZY”A. The tzibur is asked to be mispallel for Rav Meir David ben Sara Shadra bsoch kol cholei yisrael. הרב מאיר דוד בן שרה שדרה

Headlines By Dovid Lichtenstein is at EICHLERS.COM

World events are catalysts for all sorts of change. Headlines: Halachic Debates of Current Events is a halachic analysis of some of the most notable issues in current events. With its remarkable array of Torah sources, Dovid Lichtenstein’s book will fascinate both laymen and scholars interested in contemporary halachic issues. No doubt, this work is a testament to the timeless nature of Torah law in confronting even the most modern dilemmas. “Highly original and a delightful study...” — Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Gvul Yaavetz, Brooklyn, NY “These are questions that engage thinking people, but rarely do the disputants delve into halachic sources... [This work shows] that the Torah speaks authoritatively to every age and every question.” — Rabbi Nosson Scherman, Mesorah Publications “It is a great endeavor to show how Halacha addresses actual and practical matters, for this is the honor of Torah and the main purpose of Torah study.” — Rabbi Herschel Schachter, Rosh Yeshivah Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Dovid Lichtenstein is the founder and CEO of The Lightstone Group. He lives with his wife and children in New York. Click here to order.

NEW NSN SHOW Headlines with Dovid Lichtenstein EPISODE 1

Click here.

NEW NSN SHOW Eternal Flame with Rabbi YY Jacobson EPISODE 1

Click here.

OU TORAH Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part VI

Chapter 2 (vv. 22-24) and the beginning of Chapter 3

OU TORAH Shmuel Aleph 6 By Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Clickn here.

THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5775 Issue XIX Parshas Terumah Embezzling the Soul of the Employee Paying Employees on Time Rabbi Dovid Grossman and Rabbi Yehonoson Sasportas

Paying one’s employees in the proper time is not merely a nice gesture. Nor is it merely a wise corporate decision which may prove to maintain positive energy in the workers who keep the engine of the business running. For some reason the Torah elevates this important principle to be amongst the most vital Mitzvos in the Torah. The Chafetz Chaim refers to this Mitzva as “a matter that stands at the pinnacle of the world, yet people disregard it”. An employer who witholds wages can violate one positive commandment and the prohibition reffered to as Ba’al Talin, as well as a number of other scriptural prohibitions1. The Gemara tells us 2 that one who witholds a worker’s wages is tanatamount to embezzeling the soul of the employee. This seems a bit extreme. Why is this Mitzva, more than any other, compared to kidnapping or holding the employee’s soul hostage?!

THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5775 Issue XIX Parshas Terumah Brian Williams "Misremembering" Scandal Is it Really So Bad to Make up War Stories and Embellish Battle Scars? By Rabbi Yehoshua Wolfe

“When you look out of your hotel window in the French Quarter and watch a man float by face down… When you see bodies that you last saw in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and swore to yourself that you would never see in your country...” – Brian Williams on Hurricane Katrina. Reporting too good to be true. This and several other discredited reports by news anchor Brian Williams led to his suspension from NBC last week. Indeed, the media must provide the public accurate information, but how about the rest of us? Is it really so bad to make up war stories and embellish battle scars?

NALLEH.COM and YU TORAH TERUMAH 5775 Cornerstone Of Commitment By: Mrs. Shira Smiles

One of the classical images symbolic of Torah philosophy is the image of the Cherubim atop the Holy Ark. The Torah describes these figures as facing one another and also facing the Cover of the Ark, and having wings spreading upward. From between these Cherubim the voice of God will emanate when He speaks to Bnei Yisroel. According to tradition, the Cherubim had childlike faces and, the Zohar adds that they were male and female. They represented a barometer of Bnei Yisroel’s sensitivity to each other that was then reflected in the position of the Cherubim as representative of Hashem. When there was harmony, the Cherubim faced each other and God’s presence rested comfortably between them, but when there was disunity, they turned away from each other and Hashem was displeased. Why did Hashem choose to have the Cherubim depicted this way? Click here Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein.

NAALEH.COM Parshat Terumah: The Mishkan By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

In his shiur on Parshat Terumah, Rabbi Reichman discusses the concept of the Mishkan as the physical representative of our connection to the One Above.

NAALEH.COM Adar: Achieving Alignment By: Mrs. Shira Smiles

In this Torah shiur (class) on the month of Adar, Mrs. Shira Smiles speaks about what we can learn from having two months of Adar. Mrs. Smiles also speaks about the sign of Adar, the fish. This Torah class is available online in streaming video and for download in mp3 and ipod video formats.

NALLEH.COM Two Purims By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

In this Torah shiur (class) on Purim, Rabbi Hershel Reichman teaches an essay by the Shem Mishmuel, which discusses the mystical reasons for the two separate Purim celebrations, on the fourteenth and fifteeenth days of Adar. This Torah class is available online in streaming video and for download in mp3 and ipod video formats.

OU TORAH TERUMAH 5775 The Gratitude of Labour By Britain's Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

There is an important principle in Judaism, a source of hope and also one of the structuring principles of the Torah. It is the principle that God creates the cure before the disease. Bad things may happen but God has already given us the remedy if we know where to look for it. So for instance in Chukkat we read of the deaths of Miriam and Aaron and how Moses was told that he would die in the desert without entering the Promised Land. This is a terrifying encounter with mortality. Yet we read before any of this, we first hear the law of the red heifer, the rite of purification after contact with death. The Torah has placed it here to assure us in advance that we can be purified after any bereavement. Human mortality does not ultimately bar us from being in the presence of Divine immortality. This is the key to understanding Terumah.

RABBI WEIN ON TERUMAH 5775

The initial and most successful building campaign in Jewish history is recorded for us in this week's Torah reading. The Torah, in recounting the event, teaches us that Moshe was to accept offerings of gold, silver, copper, precious stones, weaving materials, acacia wood, artistic talent and everything else that would be necessary for the construction of the great tabernacle/mishkan in the desert.

RAV KOOK ON Terumah Part 3: The Tachash and the Erev Rav

The Talmud gives an account of the enigmatic Tachash, a mysterious creature whose beautiful multicolored hide was used as a covering for the Tabernacle: "The Tachash that lived in the time of Moses was a unique species. The Sages could not determine whether it was domesticated or wild. It only appeared at that time for Moses, who used it for the Tabernacle. Then it vanished." (Shabbat 28b) What is the significance of this unique animal? What was its special connection to Moses, that it made its appearance only during his lifetime? And why did Moses incorporate the colorful Tachash in the Tabernacle, albeit only for its outermost covering?

RAV KOOK ON Terumah Part 2: Betzalel's Wisdom

The Torah reading of Terumah begins the section dealing with building the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and making the priestly clothes. These chapters are among the few in which the Torah places great emphasis on external beauty — art, craftsmanship, and aesthetics. Of particular interest is the protagonist of this unique construction: the master craftsman, Betzalel. The Midrash weaves many stories about Betzalel's wisdom and skill. In particular, the Sages noted the significance of his name, which means, "in God's shadow": "Betzalel's name reflected his wisdom. God told Moses, 'Tell Betzalel to make the tabernacle, the ark, and the vessels.' When Moses relayed the message to Betzalel, however, Moses changed the order, mentioning first the ark, then the vessels, and lastly, the tabernacle. "Betzalel turned to Moses. 'Moses, our teacher, usually one first builds the house, and then places the furniture inside. Yet you said to make the vessels and then the tabernacle. These vessels that I will make — where shall I put them? Perhaps God told you, "tabernacle, ark and vessels"?' Moses replied in amazement, 'You must have been in God’s shadow and overheard!' (Berachot 55a) Betzalel was certainly sharp to be able to reconstruct the original divine message. Why did Moses change the order that God had told him?

RAV KOOK ON Terumah Part 1: The Iron Wall

The Torah describes in great detail the vehicle for bringing God's Presence into our world: the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the forerunner of the holy Temple in Jerusalem. The Beit HaMikdash, the holy Temple in Jerusalem, was a focal point of Divine service, prayer, and prophecy; a vehicle to bring the Shechinah into the world. The current state of the world, without the Beit HaMikdash, is one of estrangement from God. When the Temple was destroyed, the Talmud teaches, the gates of prayer were locked and a wall of iron separates us from our Heavenly Father (Berachot 32b). Why did the Sages describe this breach of communication with God as a 'wall of iron'? Why not, for example, a 'wall of stone'?

OU TORAH Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part V

Chapter 2 (vv. 7-21)

[Aneinu] Please Daven - Emergency Surgery

Please daven for the niece of a Chicagoan, a baby who is having emergency surgery this morning, Ahuva Bracha bas Sara Rivka

OU TORAH Shmuel Aleph 5 By Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Click here.

Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part IV

Chapter 2 (vv. 1-6)

Aneinu Please Daven major surgery Monday

From an Aneinu member:   Please please ask for people to daven for my husband Yehuda Leib ben Fruma who is having his left kidney removed tomorrow due to suspected Kidney Cancer. Surgery is at 8:30 AM. thank you so muchyou.

OU TORAH Shmuel Aleph 4 By Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Click here.

OU TORAH Daf sugya with Rabbi Elefant Ksubos daf 2 – Setting a Wedding Date Part 3

Rabbi Elefant brings the Rema wedding beginning of month Till 15 or 21 of month Poskim not makpid on this minhag. Rabbi Wosner make wedding Wensday night gemara has other reasons we don't know. Poskim Eretz Yisroel din mazel does not apply can make wedding earlier date. Poskim Adar we are makil get married any day. The Rebbe new moon b/4 moled make the wedding. Rav Ovadia Yosef wedding can take place a seres yamei teshuva others argue. Bnei Yissaaschar getting married during Cheshvan depends on the minhag. Many minhag no wedding yortzeit of Moshe Rabainu 7th of Adar. Getting married under sky Rema siman bracha blessed like stars.Chasam Sofer no outside don't be misde kidushin but Rav Moshe says it's ok.The sidie Chemed wedding needs to be outside and it was. We are always under Avraham protection b/C we are the children of Avraham Avinu.for the rest of the shiur click here.

OU TORAH Daf sugya with Rabbi Elefant Ksubos daf 2 - Setting a Wedding Date PART 2

Click here.

OU TORAH Daf sugya with Rabbi Elefant Ksubos daf 2- Setting a Wedding Date Part 1

Click here.

OU TORAH Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part III Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom The remainder of Chapter 1 (vv. 13-22)

Cklick here.

[Aneinu] Please daven for Monsey family

Please say tehillim for this Monsey family who was taken to the hospital this morning for carbon monoxide poisoning: Leah bat Tova Chaim ben Esther Meir Tzvi ben Leah Elimelech ben Leah Raizel bat Leah Rochel bat Leah Baruch ben Sarah Miriam bat Leah Rochel bat Miriam

OU TORAH Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part II

Additional introductory remarks and commentary on Chapter 1 verses 5-12

OU TORAH #51 Beinyan Mitzvas Mechiyas Amalek By Rabbi Yaakov Moishe Shurkin

Ubeinyan Parshas Zochur Veinyonei Purim

OU TORAH Shmuel Aleph 3 By Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Click here.

[Aneinu] Tefillos Needed

Please daven for Rivka Yocheved bas Sora, an Aneinu member in the ICU who needs our tefillos for a refuah shlema.

OU TORAH Rabbi Etshalom on Esther – part I

Prepare for Purim with Rabbi Etshalom om megillat Esther a 15 part series starting today!

OU TORAH Shmuel Aleph 2 By Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Click here.

Ruth From Alienation to Monarchy By: Yael Ziegler IS AT KESHER STAM

In this fluent and penetrating study of the Book of Ruth, Yael Ziegler provides a masterful primer on how to read biblical narratives with sensitivity and depth, using recent methodological breakthroughs in the study of Tanakh. Beyond providing an eye-opening reading of a familiar biblical book, the author creatively demonstrates that midrashic readings can reveal deep strata of textual meaning, and combines these insights with classical and contemporary scholarship to uncover the religious messages of this beautifully crafted story. In Ruth: From Alienation and Monarchy, modern techniques of literary analysis and rabbinic homilies merge to yield common insights into themes such as leadership, redemption, identity, and social morality. The Book of Ruth, with its focus on the exemplary behavior of Ruth and Boaz, stands at the crossroads between society’s downward trajectory during the era of the Judges and its ascent during the era of the monarchy. It teaches the timeless lesson of how two individuals can act in accordance with their own conscience and, through small acts of kindness and humanity, change the course of history and restore hope and unity to a nation.(From Koren)

Joshua The Challenge of the Promised Land By: Michael Hattin IS AT KESHER STAM

The Book of Joshua enumerates the great challenges faced by the ancient Israelites as they enter and settle their promised land, a lengthy process that ultimately takes hundreds of years. Exhausted from their forty-year journey in the desert, the people must overcome earlier failures, confront hostile coalitions on the battlefield, struggle with the inimical cultural values pervasive in Canaan, and make the difficult transition from a nomadic to a settled way of life. Difficult as this may sound, there is yet one burning issue that overshadows the whole enterprise: What are the hallmarks of successful leadership? In Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land, Michael Hattin brings to life the biblical Book of Joshua, highlighting how the many complex issues faced by the people as they fought to possess their new land mirror and shed light on today’s reality. Hattin approaches the text as literary narrative, considering it from the perspectives of rabbinic midrash, medieval commentary, and modern scholarship. Eloquently and perceptively, he draws the reader into one of the defining periods in Jewish history, in which the new nation strives to forge a collective identity in their homeland.(From Koren)

The Schottenstein Ed. Mishnah Elucidated Seder Nashim Volume 1 Tractates: Yevamos and Kesubos IS AT KESHER STAM

The Schottenstein Edition Talmud created a revolution in Gemara study. Now, the breakthrough format is available for the Mishnah as well. Ideal for: Mishnah learning for yahrzeits and sheloshim Students or parents helping their children with homework Beginners new to Mishnah study Anyone looking to review basic Mishnah The Schottenstein Edition of the Mishnah Elucidated features: Full vowelized Hebrew text of the Mishnah, and full text of "the Rav's" (Rabbeinu Ovadiah of Bertinoro) classic Mishnah commentary. Phrase-by-phrase translation and elucidation, following the Schottenstein Edition Talmud format, based on the interpretation of Rabbeinu Ovadiah of Bertinoro, adds words and phrases to make the Mishnah text read smoothly and clearly. Notes to clarify and explain the Mishnah further by drawing on the Gemara or other classic Mishnah commentaries. General introductions to each masechta discuss many important concepts. Many detailed diagrams and illustrations.(From Artscroll)

Guidelines to Kiddush and Havdalah IS AT KESHER STAM

These books have been praised highly by numerous Gedolei HaRabbonim and have been received warmly by the English-speaking Torah community... I offer my heartfelt blessing that they should have much success in publishing further works and disseminating the Torah." -- Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, zt"l, Rosh Hayeshiva Torah Ore and Moreh Hora'ah of Kiryat Mattersdorf, Jerusalem "As with their other works in the "Guidelines" series, this sefer is concise, accurate, and well-structured. The authors have performed a great service, presenting these vital and complex laws in a clear and straightforward question-and-answer format." -- Rabbi Pesach Eliyahu Falk, Gateshead, England, author of Modesty - An Adornment for Life "As in the previous volumes, the laws and customs are presented in a concise, lucid, and organized fashion. This volume, as well as the entire complete series of Guidelines, will serve as a guide for those who cannot learn these laws from their original sources, and as a valuable aid even to those who can." -- Rabbi Zev Leff, Rosh Hayeshiva and Rav of Moshav Matisyahu(BACK COVER)

THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5775 Issue XVIII Parshas Mishpatim The Jewish Concept of Prison Teaching the Thief a Thing or Two By Rabbi Yehonoson Dovid Hool

Surprisingly, though Parshas Mishpatim is devoted almost exclusively to Mishptei HaTorah – the Torah’s laws of money and finance, it opens with the laws of Eved Ivri, the Jewish slave. Rashi points out that this Parshah is discussing the situation in which a thief is caught and no longer has the stolen object, nor does he have enough money to pay for that which he stole. In such a case, the Beis Din has no choice but to sell him into slavery for up to six years, using the money derived from the sale to pay back the thief’s victim.

THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5775 Issue XVIII Parshas Mishpatim The Valhalla Metro-North Train Crash Who is Liable for the Maintenance of Safety Standards? By Rabbi Micha Cohn

This past Tuesday, February 3, 2015, a Metro-North commuter train struck an SUV at a grade crossing near Valhalla, New York, killing the driver along with five passengers on the train and injuring 15 others. As of now there has not been evidence of any safety issues with the tracks, crossing gate or train. On the other hand, fourteen months ago on December 1, 2013, a Metro-North passenger train derailed near the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx killing four passengers and injuring 61. Investigations found that the train was traveling at almost three times the speed limit because the engineer had suffered from a sort of highway hypnosis. Six months before that, on May 17, 2013, a Metro-North passenger train derailed in Fairfield, Connecticut and injured 72 people. It was caused by a cracked joint bar which had been inspected two days before the crash but was not deemed serious enough to require immediate repair.

YU TORAH NAALEH.COM MISHPATIM 5775 Blood And Bonding By: Mrs. Shira Smiles

Before Matan Torah (according to Rashi), Moshe ascends the mountain where he receives a message from Hashem to convey to Bnei Yisroel. Moshe descends, delivers Hashem’s words, and the people respond, “Naaseh – We will do.” Then Moshe wrote all the words of Hashem. In the morning, he rose early and built an altar upon which the people brought offerings. “Moses took half the blood and placed it in the basins and half the blood he threw upon the altar. He took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, and they said, ‘Everything that Hashem has said Naaseh venishma – we will do and we will listen.’ Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant that Hashem has sealed with you concerning these matters.’” Obviously, this ritual cements the relationship between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and Bnei Yisroel as a covenant is written and accepted. The ritual itself, however, is enigmatic and demands elucidation. Why was the blood divided in half? Exactly where was the blood thrown? Why does this ritual divide the responses of Bnei Yisroel? Click here for Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein.

MIPSHPATIM LIABILTIES AND LOVE By Shira Smiles and more

Click here.

NALLEH.COM Parshat Mishpatim: The Seventh Point By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

In discussing this weeks`s parsha, Parshat Mishpatim, Rabbi Reichman relays the laws of a Jewish servant and provides a critical perspective on our relationship with G-d and the Torah.

NAALEH.COM Parshat Mishpatim: G-d's Emblem of Truth By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

In this Torah shiur (class), Rabbi Reichman discusses this week's Torah portion, Parshat Mishpatim, in accordance with the interpretation of the Shem MiShmuel. This Torah class is available online in streaming video and for download in mp3 and ipod video formats.

NAALEH.COM Parshat Shekalim: Love and Fear By: Rabbi Hershel Reichman

Rabbi Hershel Reichman talks about the position of Parshat Shekalim in the Jewish Calender and provides insight into the dual nature of our relationship with G-d.This Torah class is available online in streaming video and for download in mp3 and ipod formats.

Mishpatim 5775 Healing the Heart of Darkness By Britain's Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Jobbik, otherwise known as the Movement for a Better Hungary, is an ultra-nationalist Hungarian political party that has been described as fascist, neo-Nazi, racist, and anti-semitic. It has accused Jews of being part of a “cabal of western economic interests” attempting to control the world: the libel otherwise known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fiction created by members of the Czarist secret service in Paris in the late 1890s and revealed as a forgery by The Times in 1921. On one occasion the Jobbik party asked for a list of all the Jews in the Hungarian government. Disturbingly, in the Hungarian parliamentary elections in April 2014 it secured over 20 per cent of the votes, making it the third largest party. Until 2012 one of its leading members was a politician in his late 20s, Csanad Szegedi. Szegedi was a rising star in the movement, widely spoken of as its future leader. Until one day in 2012. That was the day Szegedi discovered he was a Jew.

RABBI WEIN ON MISHPATIM 5775

One of the most puzzling, if not even disturbing subjects, discussed in biblical and halachic detail, appears in this week’s Torah reading. That subject matter concerns itself with the institution of slavery – of literally owning another human being and defining them as human chattel. Certainly, the entire subject matter grates on the ears and sensibilities of Western citizens in our current twenty-first century.

RABBI WEIN ON EXPECTATIONS

A great deal of our reactions to events is dependent upon what our previous expectations regarding those events or personalities were. If we have very high expectations of success, morality or altruistic behavior from our individual leaders, be they political or religious, national or personal, we are invariably doomed to disappointment - the higher the expectation, the more bruising the disappointment.

RAV KOOK ON Mishpatim PART 3: Legislating Kindness

The Borrower's Liabilities Rabbi S. R. Hirsch wrote that the laws governing a borrower are 'perhaps the most difficult of all the rules of Jewish civil law to comprehend.'1 I borrowed a pencil from my friend, but it rolled off the table and broke in half. Do I need to pay for a new one?

RAV KOK ON Mishpatim Part 2: Slavery in the Torah

"If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his hand, the death must be avenged [the master is punished by death]. However, if the slave survives for a day or two, his death shall not be avenged, since he is his master's property." (Ex. 21:20-21) The Torah portion of Mishpatim deals primarily with laws governing society — personal damages, lending money and articles, manslaughter, kidnapping, and so on. Overall, they fit in well with a modern sense of justice. The laws dealing with slaves, however, are difficult for us to digest. Why does the Torah distinguish between a mortally wounded slave who dies immediately, and one who lingers for a day or two? Is a slave truly "his master's property"?

RAV KOOK ON Mishpatim Part 1: Accepting Two Torahs

A careful reading of the Torah's account of Matan Torah indicates that the Jewish people accepted the Torah not once but twice. First it says: "Moses came and told the people all of God's words and all of the laws. The entire people responded with a single voice, 'All the words that God spoke — we will do (Na'aseh).'" (Ex. 24:3) Immediately afterward, we read: "Moses wrote down all of God's words.... He took the book of the covenant and read it to the people. They responded, 'All that God said, we will do and we will understand — Na'aseh VeNishma.'" (Ex. 24:4,7) These two passages cannot refer to the same event. In the first account, Moses communicated God's words orally, while in the second account he read to the people from sefer habrit, the written record of God's word. This corresponds to the teaching of the Sages that not one but two Torahs were given at Mount Sinai — the Oral Law and the Written Law. The Jewish people first accepted upon themselves the Oral Torah, and afterward, the Written Torah. Why Two Torahs?

OU TORAH 19 LETTERS Letter #12 – Mitzvos By Daniel Adler

Click here.

OU TORAH Shmuel Aleph 1 By Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Click here.