Online Torah Classes with Rabbi Mendy Goldberg

MATOS- MASEI Can't We All Get Along? This weeks Torah reading contains a striking anomaly: the Torah records the precise date of Aharon's death - the first of Av -even though his passing was already described in Parashas Chukas without any date. The Rebbe explains this is deliberate: the Torah wants us to encounter Aharon's yahrtzeit at the moment we read this parashah, which always fa...

PINCHUS The Mystery of Elijah the Prophet Pinchas and Elijah the Prophet are the same person - the only individual in history to conquer death and live forever in this world. The Torah's promise of a "covenant of peace" to Pinchas is understood by our Sages on multiple levels, the deepest being that Pinchas himself became Elijah, the eternal herald of the Redemption reading supported...

CHUKAS - BALAKAnger Management The Torah portion deals with two central themes: the sin of "Water of Complaint" and the Red Heifer. The central message is that anger reflects a lack of faith, one who truly believes in Divine Providence does not lose control, knowing that everything is guided from Above toward a good purpose. Moses's sin, according to Maimonides, was anger itself, whi...

KORACH When Jealousy is a Good Thing. Jealousy is not an evil impulse to be suppressed, but rather a powerful engine that needs proper direction. Using Korach as the central example, we see how a person of immense potential and spiritual gifts can fail when he tries to become someone else rather than channeling his unique strengths into his own role. Korach's tragedy was not that he felt jealo...

SHELACH This week we receive a deeply meaningful lesson from the sin of the spies. The unforgivable mistake of the spies was not the fear itself. The challenge of conquering the Land is genuinely daunting - no one knows this better than we do, to this very day. The essential sin was that their fears about the Land reflected what was already happening inside them. Long before the Land threatened th...

BAHALOTECHA Is Retirement an Option? Summer is upon us, and with it a season of rest for some. Nevertheless, a Jew needs to live in constant upward motion. He must break into new territory, advance beyond himself, and move the world toward a better place. Rather than going with the flow and waiting for miracles to happen, a Jew pushes against the current and expands the boundaries of his influence...

NASO How the "Great" have fallen Life is one big escape act, with the "evil inclination"acting as the world's most sophisticated smuggler. Despite our best morning intentions, we find ourselves exhausted within hours, outsmarted by our own inner adversary that prevents us from completing even a single task properly. Every couple of months, we witness another public scandal...

SHAVUOT From Ruth to King David One woman merited what no one else did. Ruth the Moabite-a convert from the nation of Moab-became forever bound with the Torah itself, to the point that her story is read each year on Shavuot, the festival of the giving of the Torah. More than anyone else, Ruth teaches the secret of truly receiving Torah and cleaving to it.

BAMIDBAR Why Segregate the Jews to 12 Tribes? The Torah portion of Bamidbar, always read before Shavuot, delivers a foundational message: every person has a unique path and purpose. The meticulous separation of the twelve tribes, each with its own flag, colors, and symbols, teaches that spiritual life is not a competition. Just as the angels surrounding the Divine Throne each have distinct roles w...

Lag Baomer Unstoppable Prayer, Real Relationship. One of the most famous blessings associated with Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi) is his power to help childless couples. The Jewish people have long attributed a special spiritual remedy to Rashbi and to Lag B'Omer — his day of joy — specifically in the matter of being blessed with children. At the heart of this topic is a remarkable Midrash,...

EMOR"G-d is Talking to You!" The answer to all of life's questionsis right in front of you, how do you hear that voice? How does the Torah become a sharp and clear compasswithin a world full of noise and distractions? A powerful and moving lesson on the power of the Torah,the Torah reading that encompasses all of the Holidays — and the how to perpare for Shavuot."

ACHAREI - KEDOSHIM The Ultimate Sacrifice Let's explore the concept of mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) and its role in Jewish education. The purpose of remembrance is not merely to mourn the fallen, but to inspire future generations of heroes. Drawing from the Akeidah (the Binding of Isaac), the martyrdom of Rabbi Akiva, and modern soldiers like Matan Aberjil, who threw himself on a grenade to...

TAZRIA -METZORA The Power of A Good Word A small but powerful step each of us can take is to stop the spread of this negativity. To challenge mistaken ideas-yes-but not to despair of the people who hold them, and not to define them with absolute, hopeless labels. Instead, we must find the way to highlight the potential within every Jew to return and to repair their actions. A fundamental question...

TZAV The Antidote to Negativity Bios As we learn the laws of the Thanksgiving offering, we come to learn its differences from all other scarifices. As well as we look at the Seder table we see the Matzah is unique from everything else that is 4, there are only 3 matzos, why? The Seder, means order and perspective, giving us an outlook that will forever change the way we look at anything in life, a...

VAYIKRA Humility's Greatness Moses, who is described as the humblest person who ever lived, symbolized by the small letter aleph in the word "Vayikra." The central paradox is examined: how could Moses, who stood head and shoulders above all humanity in spiritual greatness, genuinely feel smaller than everyone else? The answer offered is that true humility is not self-negation or low...

VAYAKHEL - PEKUDEI Shabbos, A Gift of Time? Notice how all the recent event happened on Shabbos, why then? What is so unique about the Shabbos? Why does Moshe preface the laws of Shabbos, before telling the Jews about the construction of Tabernacle? Especially that when G-d instructed him about the Tabernacle, it was only afterwards, that he was told about the laws of shabbos? As we will come to l...

PURIM An Inebriated Relationship This is the secret of Megillat Esther: a story with no open miracle, yet entirely one great miracle. The long introductions and seemingly incidental details are themselves the revelation of providence. That is why Hallel is not recited on Purim — because the Hallel is the Megillah itself, the act of tracing the chain of events that reveals how, even outside the Lan...

Lesson 6 Responsa from the future Could Artificial Intelligence decide Jewish law? Is lab-grown meat kosher? See how Jewish law is addressing the questions posed by tomorrow’s cutting-edge technology.   Cases JERUSALEM, 2003; MAALEH ADUMIM, 2009; NEW YORK, 2015; BEIT SHEMESH, 2022

Lesson 5 Answering the whole person Rules don’t always translate easily into reality. See how sages account for the practical, social, and emotional realities around a question to ensure their ruling leads to its intended outcome.   Cases CAIRO, 1173; BARCELONA, 1300; LODMIR, 1615; LUBAVITCH, 1871; BROOKLYN, 1954; MANCHESTER, 1963

Lesson 4 When the exception is the law Explore unexpected rulings that reveal the hidden fallback mechanisms built into Jewish law. These cases show how the law itself protects deeper values like human dignity and family harmony.   Cases PAVIA, 1450; SALONIKA, 1550; KRAKOW, 1570; LIOZNA, 1790

TETZAVEH Where's Moses? Why is Moshe's name absent from this week's Torah Reading? What is so special with the 7 Adar? What was greater the day of his passing or birth? What was the overriding factor that convinced Haman to make his plot in the month of Adar? Learn to reveal the Moses in you.

TERUMAH Faith Verses Reality One of the great struggles in life is that what we see and feel feels more real than what we believe. A religious person lives with tension. On one hand, we believe in a G-d who is beyond anything physical. On the other hand, we are physical beings. We experience the world through what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. And whatever we can see and feel feels powerf...

MISHPATIM How to Make a Living There’s a Jewish idea that money is not something we earn; money is something we receive from Heaven. Money is the most influential force in the world, and Hashem does not release it freely. Behind every coin there is a guiding hand that determines the address at which it will land. Therefore, in order to “make money,” we must understand the values that guide the Hol...

Lesson 3 How the Torah stays relevant See inside the process that enables the Torah’s ancient code to guide life in an ever-changing world. Witness the precise process of applying Talmudic precedent.   Cases  BARCELONA, 1300; VALENCIA, 1380; PAVIA, 1478; BEREZHANY, 1908

YISRO Is Faith A Commandment? What is the meaning of the statement “I am Hashem your G-d”? Is faith a commandment? Can one separate from it or violate it? And more broadly, what is the point of commanding faith? If it exists naturally, there is no need to command it; and if it does not exist, what good is a command? After all, one who does not believe, Heaven forbid, does not believe in commands i...