Parsha with Rabbi David Bibi

The Talmud's Taanit 29a says that Tisha B'Av is a day of mourning because God metaphorically said, 'Since you cried for no reason, I'll give you something to cry about!' . Tisha B'Av commemorates five calamities that the Jewish nation has experienced:  • The sin of the spies 
Before the Israelites entered the land of Israel, 12 spies explored the land and brought a bad report to Moses, causin...

  We begin the Fifth book of the Torah this week, the book of Devarim. We have mentioned many times that the Rabbis teach us that this book made up primarily of Moshe Rabeynu’s final speech and testament was an optional book to be included at Moses discretion. The first three portions feature Moses narrating a brief history of the past four decades to those about to enter the land (see our sh...

Memory means connecting  The disconnect between generations is tragic  The attempt of the rabbis is to remove the disconnect  הִנֵּ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙ שֹׁלֵ֣חַ לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֵלִיָּ֣ה הַנָּבִ֑יא לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם יְהֹוָ֔ה הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃ Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of GOD. https://www.sefaria.org/Malachi.3.23 וְהֵשִׁ֤יב...

“Chodesh Av,” the Month of Av, is referred to in the TORAH as the “Fifth Month,” counting from Nisan, the “First Month.” There is a Biblical reference in BaMidbar (33:38), where we find “And Aharon the Priest went up to Hor Hahar at the command of G-d, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Jewish People had left Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month.” (BaMidbar 33:38). Th...

  Pe’or is based on a Pe’or culture which is the antithesis of the Torah Moses gave us. Pe’or is based on deifying that which comes naturally. If my body wants to defecate, that’s beautiful. If my body feels the need to sleep with that woman although she is someone else’s wife, then I must heed my body. If my body desires someone forbiidden or even an animal, then it must be acceptable. If I...

City of Refuge Kohen Gadol His Mother  Rabbi Aryeh Levine 

אַל־תְּהִ֤י צַדִּיק֙ הַרְבֵּ֔ה׃ So don’t overdo goodness https://www.sefaria.org/Ecclesiastes.7.16 אַל תְּהִי צַדִּיק הַרְבֵּה. כְּשָׁאוּל, שֶׁדִּמָּה לִהְיוֹת צַדִּיק וְרִחֵם עַל הָרְשָׁעִים: Be not exceedingly righteous. Like Shaul, who tried to display his righteousness and [misdirected] his mercy on the wicked. https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Ecclesiastes.7.16.1 אל תהי צדיק הרבה. בשאול איירי...

From the 17th of Tammuz until 9 Ab  Reversed energy  Is it dangerous or Sad 

Goal is to Live the Life of the Righteous BALAK  וַיָּ֣שׇׁב אֵלָ֔יו וְהִנֵּ֥ה נִצָּ֖ב עַל־עֹלָת֑וֹ ה֖וּא וְכׇל־שָׂרֵ֥י מוֹאָֽב׃ So he returned to him and found him standing beside his offerings, and all the Moabite dignitaries with him.  וַיִּשָּׂ֥א מְשָׁל֖וֹ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר מִן־אֲ֠רָ֠ם יַנְחֵ֨נִי בָלָ֤ק מֶֽלֶךְ־מוֹאָב֙ מֵֽהַרְרֵי־קֶ֔דֶם לְכָה֙ אָֽרָה־לִּ֣י יַעֲקֹ֔ב וּלְכָ֖ה זֹעֲמָ֥ה יִשְׂרָא...

n the 1930s, a dark joke was told about a rabbi in Germany who was reading the Nazi paper called Der Stürmer. A congregant came up to him, astonished, and said, “Rabbi, how can you be reading that Nazi rag, filled with libels of the worst kind. Are you some kind of masochist, or, God forbid, a self-hating Jew?” “On the contrary,” the rabbi responded, “When I used to read the Jewish papers, all I l...

L'N Chana Bat Jacquline by Michael Dahan  And Moshe ben Esther 

  Turning Earth into Heaven      We read the various explanations discussing their intent, but something was still missing for me. If we look at Rashi, we see that at first, he praises the Meraglim quoting the Torah’s description of them as anashim - men and telling how important each and every one of them in fact was. The rabbis tell us that the Torah lists their names in orde...

Moshe and Joshua Caleb and the Avot 

Shlach Lecha,  Rashi : שלח לך אנשים. לָמָּה נִסְמְכָה פָרָשַׁת מְרַגְּלִים לְפָרָשַׁת מִרְיָם? לְפִי שֶׁלָּקְתָה עַל עִסְקֵי דִבָּה, שֶׁדִּבְּרָה בְאָחִיהָ, וּרְשָׁעִים הַלָּלוּ רָאוּ וְלֹא לָקְחוּ מוּסָר (תנחומא): שלח לך אנשים SEND THOU MEN — Why is the section dealing with the spies put in juxtaposition with the section dealing with Miriam’s punishment? To show the grievousness of the spies...