Gvuros HaShem

Rabbi Shulman explains the Maharal’s teaching that God’s greatest exaltation is revealed not through distance from earthly life, but through His concern for its humblest inhabitants. Unlike human greatness, which depends on distinguishing oneself from others, divine greatness has no boundaries and therefore encompasses the great and small alike. This explains both God’s care for the vulnerable and...

Rabbi Shulman examines the Maharal’s explanation of the fifteen benefits celebrated in Dayenu: liberation from Egyptian domination, elevation beyond the natural order, and attachment to God through holiness. A central discussion explores whether the wealth taken from Egypt should be understood simply as unpaid wages or, more broadly, as the positive outcome of Israel’s labor and suffering. The pro...

Rabbi Shulman explains the Maharal’s account of the seven Noahide commandments as a framework encompassing the intellect, the body, and the whole person. Seven generations of wrongdoing progressively distanced God’s presence from the world, while seven righteous individuals—from Abraham through Moses—reversed that process by embodying the corresponding virtues. The central conclusion is that God’s...

Rabbi Shulman explains that the Torah repeatedly builds in a mitzvah meant to rein in human תאווה, because unchecked desire becomes a gateway that generates many other sins—an idea he connects to both אבר מן החי (within שבע מצוות בני נח) and “לא תחמוד” in the עשרת הדברות. He then outlines a structural framework: human beings consist of גוף and נפש, plus a third emergent entity—“אדם” as a unified w...

Rabbi Shulman continues learning Maharal (פרק ס״ו), arguing that the miracles of Yetziat Mitzrayim were aimed at a single telos: that Hashem be *our* God by dwelling among us—“ושכנתי בתוכם.” He develops the Maharal’s framework of עילה/עלול (Giver/recipient) to show why the tachtonim (humans and the physical world) are the *essential* locus of Divine connection, while even angels are ultimately dis...

Rabbi Shulman explains the halachah of **not eating or drinking after the fourth cup**, rooted in **“אין מפטירים אחר הפסח אפיקומן,”** so that the taste of the מצה (as זכר לקרבן פסח) remains in one’s mouth. He clarifies why the **third and fourth cups** do not contradict this rule—because they are themselves **mitzvah-drinking**—and why additional flavored drinks (even more wine) are still prohibit...

Rabbi Shulman learns a passage (פרק ס״ו) from the Maharal (אמר יהודה בן בצלאל) arguing that any great divine act must have a correspondingly great purpose. He shows how the Torah itself defines the telos of Yetziat Mitzrayim: that Hashem be our God and that His שכינה dwell among us—seen through the sequence of redemption, Aseret HaDibrot, Mishpatim, and finally the Mishkan. Rabbi Shulman then addr...

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the Maharal’s approach to the “fifth cup” at the Seder, framing it as a *reshut* precisely because it represents a higher, more subtle category of Hashem’s kindness—especially *parnasah*—beyond the baseline gratitude owed for *geulah*. He then tackles a practical-nusach problem: if *Hallel HaGadol* belongs to the fifth cup (parnasah), why do many Hagados place it on the four...

Rabbi Shulman explains the closing progression of *Hallel HaGadol*—from Hashem remembering us in our lowliness, to redeeming us from our oppressors, and culminating in Hashem providing food to all flesh. He develops the Maharal’s idea (based on Pesachim) that **פרנסה** is “greater” than **גאולה** because it is the ongoing, direct divine sustaining of all existence without intermediaries. This fram...

Rabbi Shulman continues unpacking *Hallel HaGadol* (Tehillim 136) through the lens of the Maharal, showing how its sequence is a guided descent from Hashem’s transcendent governance—mediated through distinct classes of מלאכים—down into the created physical order of שמים וארץ and their details. He explains why “לעושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו” is placed before the description of the heavens: miracles flow...

Episode Notes Notes go hereRabbi Shulman explains the Maharal’s approach to the structure of the cups at the Seder, emphasizing that the Gemara’s primary girsa points to two distinct cups beyond the basic four: the fourth for Hallel (with ברכת השיר) and an additional fifth connected to הלל הגדול. From there, Rabbi Shulman develops the Maharal’s central theological idea: why הלל הגדול is “great”—be...

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the closing structure of Hallel as it appears in *Nishmat* and *Yishtabach*, focusing on why some sections emphasize **eight** praises “from our side” while *Yishtabach* enumerates **fifteen** praises “from Hashem’s side.” He explains the conceptual difference between **הלל** (praise for Hashem’s beneficence) and **שירה** (song about Hashem’s might), and why the “big finish”...

Rabbi Shulman analyzes why the Mishnah in Pesachim refers to the concluding berakhah after Hallel on the seder night with the unusual title **ברכת השיר** rather than the standard **יברך אחריו** (i.e., *Yehallukha*). He explains the Maharal’s approach: on leil Pesach, Hallel functions as **שירה**, and that “song-status” creates an added requirement for a formal concluding berakhah. From there, Rabb...

Rabbi Shulman continues the Maharal’s discussion (פרק סה) of praising Hashem with the word “אָז,” explaining how “אָז” signals transcendence beyond the natural world of “seven” and even beyond time. He develops the Midrashic image that Israel “clothes” Hashem כביכול with a “חלוק של תפארת,” since honor functions like a garment, and the Torah’s expressions of עֹז are engravings on that robe. Rabbi S...

Episode Notes Notes go hereR

Episode Notes Notes go hereRabbi Shulman explains a teaching of the Maharal on the concluding “הודו לה׳” in Tehillim 118, showing that the chapter opens and closes with gratitude to highlight that the entire story is fundamentally about הודאה. Drawing on a Gemara in Pesachim that assigns different verses to different figures around David HaMelech (David, Yishai, Shmuel, and David’s brothers), Rabb...

Rabbi Shulman analyzes the Mishnah and Gemara’s debate over what “ברכת השיר” is at the end of the Seder, explaining why many Haggadot incorporate both יהללוך and נשמת כל חי. He then focuses on a precise claim in the Gemara: within יהללוך there are specifically **eight** concentrated expressions of praise, and this “eight” aligns with a broader Torah pattern where songs are introduced by **אז** (wh...

Rabbi Shulman explains a teaching of the Maharal on why Tehillim both opens and closes with “הוֹדוּ לַה׳,” framing the entire chapter as an exercise in הודאה (gratitude). He then traces a Gemara in Pesachim that assigns successive verses to different figures around David HaMelech (David, Yishai, Shmuel, and David’s brothers), showing that the goodness of Hashem is not “mainly” for one person with...

Rabbi Shulman continues an explanation of Hallel (Tehillim 118), focusing on how Hashem elevates the despised “stone” into a “cornerstone,” revealing salvation as overtly miraculous and pre-planned from Creation. He then turns to the pleas of **“אָנָּא ה׳ הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא”** and **“אָנָּא ה׳ הַצְלִיחָה נָּא”** as requests for deliverance from opposition and for continued success. Finally, he offers...

Rabbi Shulman continues learning the Maharal’s explanation of Hallel (פרק סד), focusing on the pasuk **“עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ וַיְהִי לִי לִישׁוּעָה”** and how its grammar shapes its meaning. He develops a theme that praise and song from צדיקים “add strength,” כביכול, by opening channels for Divine revelation—linking this to the Ramchal’s framing of “עלינו לשבח.” Rabbi Shulman then pivots to sever...

Rabbi Shulman continues learning the Maharal on Hallel, focusing on the “מן המצר” section and how Midrash reads “סבוני” as referring to Gog U’Magog—the archetypal head of the nations opposing Malchut Shamayim as expressed through Israel. He outlines a Midrash describing three escalating attempts by Gog U’Magog to attack Yerushalayim, then pivots to a Zohar-based reading of “דחה דחיתני לנפל” as spo...

This dvar Torah (based on the Maharal’s approach) develops the idea that **הודאה** is not merely saying “thank you,” but a form of **תשלומים**—“repayment” through giving oneself back to Hashem, which creates **דבקות**. It explains why Hallel singles out three groups—**ישראל**, **בית אהרן**, and **יראי ה׳**—first as recipients of distinct חסדים, and then more deeply as possessing distinct modes of...

This dvar Torah (following the Maharal’s flow through Hallel) addresses a theological tension: if Hashem governs with chessed—giving beyond strict deserving—does that compromise emes (truth/consistency)? The answer is that Hashem’s chessed itself is integrated into emes through a larger, exact accounting across time and roles in Creation. The piece then reframes “repayment” to Hashem: we cannot tr...

This dvar Torah focuses on the “strange” logic of Tehillim 117: why the non-Jewish nations are commanded to praise Hashem specifically because “His kindness overpowered *us*.” Using the Gemara in Pesachim and the Maharal’s framing, the shiur resolves the question by splitting the pasuk’s praises into different categories: the nations praise Hashem for His demonstrations of power in the world (niss...

This dvar Torah unpacks the symbolism of the “cup” in Tehillim as a metaphor for *kabbalah*—the human experience of receiving from Hashem—whether for salvation or (chas v’shalom) punishment. Building on the Maharal, it explains why “lifting the cup” means publicizing Hashem’s salvation and why gratitude must be expressed openly to avoid being a *kefui tovah*. It then addresses the difficult phrase...