Parsha Moment

In the al hanisim what does it mean when it says that they lit the menorah 'in your holy courtyards'? The Rebbe explains it is not referring to the menorah rather to the Yidden who marked the miracle by lighting candles

When we light the menorah we are also celebrating the miracle of the victory of battle

Why do we celebrate Hanukkah for 8 days when the miracle was only for 7 days since the jug of oil had enough oil to burn for 1 day? The miracle was that after filling the manure with oil it burnt nothing was consumed from the oil and no additional oil miraculously appeared. Similarly to the burning bush that was burning but the bush was not consumed

What right did the Maccabees have to go to war they were placing their lives in danger and only if one is forced to transgress one of the three cardinal sins is one permitted to place one's life in danger? The law is that if one is from the leaders of the generation and they see that the people need the leaders to take a stand then they can risk their lives even for a minor transgression. Therefor...

In the al hanisim it makes sense to say that the mighty fell to the hands of the week and the many into the hands of the few That's miraculous. But to say the wicked felt in the hands of the righteous and the impure into the hands of the pure that stands to reason? Many Jews at that time were not observant so when it says the wicked and the impure that is referring to the Yidden who had joined the...

Why why is there such an elaboration of the interaction between Yosef and the officers of Pharaoh It could have simply said that Yosef interpreted their dreams. To impress upon us even if a person is suffering greatly as Yosef was you should still be concerned about the needs of others and realize that you may benefit from it and you could in fact change the world as was the case by Yosef

Yoseph what's tempted to sin with the wife of potiphar. He saw his father's face and he did not. Why couldn't he simply remember his father why was it important to see his father's face? Yakov looks like adam because he rectified his transgression. By seeing yakov's face he realized that he did not want to do anything that could impact that which his father had accomplished by negating the sin of...

What led the brothers to want to kill Joseph and they threw him into the pit? The medrash explains that they were lacking the water component of Torah which means they were lacking a level of humility and as a result it led them to the wrong conclusion about their brother. As they were under the impression that Joseph wanted to kill them and therefore it was within their right to preempt that and...

The Zohar says when Reuven told his brothers that they should throw Yoseph into the pit that was considered an act of chassidus. Why? Reuven acted in a deceitful manner and that was going against his very nature. Therefore it was considered an act of chassidus

Wasn't it preordained that Joseph would have to go down to Egypt. Why then does rashi attribute yosef's descent to Egypt based on the fact that he wished to live in peace and tranquility? Yes it was preordained but not that he would not be allowef to know of his whereabouts. By wishing to live in peace and tranquility this added to not only Joseph descending to Egypt but also that yakov would not...

Why was he called Binyomin?

Why did Shimon and Levi kill the inhabitants of Shchem

Yaacov was complete, when did that occur?

'I am a fool' is no excuse

How many children did Yaccov have?

Why did Yaacov send angels?

How could Yaacov marry 2 sisters

Can malochim of Israel travel to outside of Israel?

Why doesn't the Torah explain the reason for the name Dina

Leah and Rochel identical twins

Why did Yaacov only place rocks around his head?

Raising a Jewish Family

Esau married the daughter of Yishmoel

Why did Rivka encourage Yaacov to pretend that he was Esau in order to receive the brochos

Why didn't Rivka tell Yitzchok that Esau didn't deserve the brochos?