Parshah and the Moadim with Rabbi Aryeh Shulman

Rabbi Shulman addresses a foundational question raised by Rav Tzadok: if Adam HaRishon and Chavah did teshuvah after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, why was the decree of death not removed? Rabbi Shulman explains that the sin did not merely add a punishable misdeed; it permanently altered humanity’s relationship to physical pleasure by introducing “attiyo shel nachash,” a gravitational pull towa...

Rabbi Shulman explains that rain during sukkot heightens our awareness of dependence on Hashem and can intensify the lived experience of גלות—sometimes even “גלות שבגלות,” being exiled from the sukkah itself. He develops a framework (rooted in Rav Tzadok and other sources) in which sukkot functions as **מגן**—not merely “salvation” like Yom Kippur, but protection against slipping back into old pat...

Rabbi Shulman addresses a spiritual question at the heart of Sukkot: after the כתיבה וחתימה טובה of Rosh Hashanah, Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, and Yom Kippur, why do we immediately begin saying “הושענא” (“save us”)? He answers with a vivid משל from his backyard: uprooting a deeply entrenched vine is like the intense עבודה of the Yamim Nora’im—but lasting change requires ongoing, small “walkthroughs” to...

Rabbi Shulman examines the Mishnah in Sukkah that describes the mitzvah of lulav as “six and seven” days, and uses it to explore why Chazal sometimes suspend even a Torah-level mitzvah when it coincides with shabbat. He explains the role of ספקא דיומא in חוץ לארץ and how that uncertainty ends up shaping practice even in ארץ ישראל. Moving beyond the technical concern of carrying, Rabbi Shulman argu...

Rabbi Shulman, drawing on the Maharal and Sifrei, develops how Moshe Rabbeinu models profound awe before uttering Shem Hashem, learning from the angels’ “קדוש קדוש קדוש” and expanding it with a 21-word preface before “כי שם ה' אקרא.” He then traces a progression of halachic and ethical demands: not placing Hashem’s Name “in midair,” responding with added praise when hearing His Name (e.g., in Barc...

Rabbi Shulman analyzes a well-known but difficult Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 16b) about three “books” opened on Rosh Hashanah—of צדיקים, רשעים, and בינוניים—and challenges the common assumption that it refers simply to who will physically live or die that year. Following Rashi, he reframes the books as “books of remembrance” of one’s deeds, and—using the Maharal—redefines “life” as connection to Hashem...

Rabbi Shulman explains the Gemara’s practice of eating symbolic foods on Rosh Hashanah and addresses the obvious concern: isn’t this superstition and therefore a form of **דרכי האמורי**? He develops two approaches—first, that the effectiveness of **simanim** depends on **תשובה** and inner intention expressed through **יהי רצון**; second, that physical symbols can serve as an “anchor” for spiritual...

Rabbi Shulman explains why Chazal suspended shofar-blowing on Rosh Hashanah that falls on shabbat, even though shofar is not a מלאכה דאורייתא. He develops the idea that shofar normally serves to “pull” lofty spiritual truths into the embodied, emotional self—an inner process the קדמונים call **נסירה**, modeled on the separation and reorientation of אדם וחוה. When Rosh Hashanah is on shabbat, howev...

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the Ramchal’s organization in *Derech Hashem* (Chelek 4, Perek 8) to highlight a fundamental distinction between the שלוש רגלים (Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot) and Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur. The רגלים primarily reconnect us to past revelations, while Rosh Hashanah is a present, annual reality: a renewed judgment in which Hashem “restarts” the year and reassigns the world’s status....

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the Gemara’s warning that a year in which “we do not blow at its beginning” may end “with teru’ah,” focusing on the purpose of shofar as “מְעַרְבֵּב את השטן” and how that interacts with shofar’s absence on shabbat. He contrasts the Ritva and the בה״ג on whether the Gemara refers to intentional neglect of extra blasts or an אונס that prevented shofar entirely. From there, Rab...

Rabbi Shulman explains that Parashat Nitzavim’s national “standing” is not a ceremonial moment but a spiritual mechanism for transition—whether from one leader to the next or from one year to the next. Each new stage in עבודת ה׳ demands a fresh approach, yet it can only succeed when it is built upon the gains (and lessons) of the previous stage. The proximity of Nitzavim to Rosh Hashanah highlight...

Rabbi Shulman frames the mitzvah of ביכורים as the “pinnacle” of coming home to Eretz Yisrael: a spiritual return to the inner root of things. He addresses why the Torah emphasizes going specifically to “the kohen in those days” and why the declaration is phrased “לה׳ אלוקיך” (as if Hashem is the kohen’s God). Drawing on רבי צדוק, Rabbi Shulman explains that the kohen represents the “kohen-dimensi...

Rabbi Shulman reframes Rosh Hashanah and the entire concept of יום הדין through a striking Midrash: Hashem “gifts” משפט to His beloved people the way a king gives a treasured orchard to his favorite son. He explains that justice is not merely frightening accountability, but the mechanism that allows our relationship with Hashem—and our reward—to be truly “ours” rather than a handout. From there, R...

Rabbi Shulman presents Parashat Ki Teitzei as an Elul-facing roadmap for teshuvah, reading “war against your enemy” as the inner battle against the יצר הרע and the reclaiming of the יצר טוב. He explains that victory comes through עמילות בתורה—especially תורה שבעל פה—because Torah is bound up with the “name” of Hashem itself. Rabbi Shulman then maps the parashah’s sequence (shaving, removing garmen...

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Episode Notes Notes go hereRabbi Shulman explains why the Torah—after already giving the time and place—adds that Moshe spoke to Israel only *after* defeating Sichon and Og. Drawing on Chazal and Rabbi Tzadok, he presents Sichon and Og as spiritual forces of the יצר הרע that block a person’s mind (preventing חשבון הנפש) and heart (hardening it like stone), making תוכחה unable to penetrate. The rep...

Rabbi Shulman contrasts the “lived” experience of the Nine Days—darkness, mourning, and absence—with a deeper Torah view in which this time is paradoxically called a **מועד**. Drawing from Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen (Pri Tzadik), Rabbi Shulman explains how Rosh Chodesh (especially Rosh Chodesh Av) contains hidden קדושה and “light,” even amid טומאה and חורבן, and how the very experience of rock-bottom ca...

Episode Notes Notes go hereRabbi Shulman addresses the apparent tension in the Torah’s treatment of נדרים and שבועות: Chazal often criticize making vows, yet the Torah opens Parashat Matot with the laws of nedarim and even allows for their annulment. He explains (based on Rav Tzadok and the Zohar) that vows are spiritually valid only when a person’s רצון is profoundly aligned with רצון ה׳—to the p...