Parsha with Rabbi David Bibi

 This afternoon’s class opened with a striking question: how can a parashah that begins with death—אַחֲרֵי מוֹת, the tragic loss of Nadav and Avihu—lead directly into one of the most beautiful and demanding mitzvot in the Torah, וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ? We explored a powerful idea from my rabbis: that true closeness to HaShem is not built on passion alone, but on the capacity to love—de...

On the holiest day of celebration, when the Shechinah finally descended and heaven touched earth, two of the greatest souls in our history stepped forward—and were consumed by fire. Nadav and Avihu were not distant from HaShem; they were too close. Their story is not one of simple sin, but of holy passion that crossed a boundary, of love that lacked restraint, of a fire that burned without the bal...

 We all know we have to be careful with our words. We’ve heard about lashon hara since we were children. But what if that’s only half the story? What if the Torah is not just warning us about the words we say—but also about the words we fail to say? In this powerful episode, we explore one of the most unusual korbanot in the Torah—the two birds of the metzora—and uncover a life-changing messa...

Through powerful teachings from Chazal and timeless insights shared by Rabbi Abittan and we uncover how many of our conflicts are not really about what they seem. Beneath anger is often pain, beneath argument is often hurt, and beneath distance is often longing. Learning to “look twice” has the power to transform marriages, relationships, parenting, and leadership. Because sometimes, the differenc...

Tazria – The Birth of a New You! We all go through pain. Struggles, frustrations, habits we can’t seem to break, patterns we keep repeating. And the hardest part is not the pain itself—it’s the feeling that nothing is coming from it. That we are stuck. That we are not changing. Parashat Tazria comes and challenges that assumption at its core. It teaches that every struggle is either a form of mean...

  This class explores the powerful message of Parashat Tazria through the lens of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s insight: that our greatest strength has always been am eḥad b’lev eḥad—a nation united at the core. Through Torah sources, timeless stories, and the painful clarity of today’s reality, we uncover why lashon hara is more than just a personal failing—it is an attack on the very unity that d...

n this episode of Breakfast & a Class, we explore the hidden poverty that Chazal warn about—“אין עני אלא בדעת”—and uncover how the way we see ourselves shapes everything: our relationships, our growth, even our avodat Hashem. Through powerful stories and practical insight, this class will challenge you to rethink what it means to be “rich,” and why the greatest loss in life is not what we lack...

Something powerful lingers after Pesaḥ—but it’s easy to lose it as life returns to normal. In this morning’s breakfast and a class, we take one pasuk from yesterday’s Haftarah—“he will not judge by what his eyes see”—and uncover a stunning idea from Chazal: that Mashiaḥ will judge through re’ach, through a kind of spiritual “fragrance.” What does that mean? And how does it connect to the sea split...

  In our class this morning, we endevor to uncover a powerful and often overlooked truth—thatredemption is not just about leaving a place, but about carrying an identity.    

This morning’s Breakfast & a Class takes us beneath the surface of chametz and into something far more unsettling—the illusion of control. Through two powerful teachings of the Ben Ish Ḥai, we explore how a person can believe he is in charge, while quietly handing over the reins of his life. A man who thinks his stick killed a lion. A rider who lifts a stranger onto his horse—only to lose ever...

The Ten Plagues — A War Against the Gods of Egypt Most people read the Ten Plagues as punishments. That is true—but it is not the whole truth. The Torah itself says, “וּבְכָל־אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶׂה שְׁפָטִים”—“Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.” This was not merely a contest between Moshe and Pharaoh, or even between Israel and Egypt. It was a direct assault on the entire E...

Most of us grew up hearing the Ten Plagues as a dramatic story—ten punishments, one after another, until Egypt finally breaks. But when you look closely at the pesukim, a different picture emerges. This was not chaos. It was a system. A deliberate, structured process in which HaShem dismantled Egypt piece by piece—its river, its land, its animals, its bodies, its sky, its light, and finally, life...

 We spend so much of life trying to avoid struggle—avoiding temptation, avoiding pressure, avoiding the parts of ourselves that feel dangerous or out of control. But the Torah does something shocking. When it comes to matzah, it doesn’t tell us to use something that can never become chametz. It insists we use the very grain that can go wrong—and then guard it. Because the goal of a Jew is not...

  In the middle of everything—sirens, uncertainty, a world that feels anything but calm—my grandchildren sat in a yishuv and made matzah. Just flour, water, and a clock. And watching them, it hit me: nothing dramatic is happening in that moment. No miracles. No splitting seas. Just a quiet race against time. Because from the second the water touches the flour, something begins. And if you wai...

What if leaving Mitzrayim was never only about Egypt? What if the Haggadah is not only asking you to remember a story—but to confront your own? In this powerful and deeply personal class, we explore the uncomfortable truth that many of us are no longer held back by chains… but by beliefs, habits, fears, and identities we have quietly accepted as permanent. Through timeless Torah sources and striki...

We live in a world that celebrates inspiration. Do it when you feel it. Show up when it moves you. Give when your heart is open. But the Torah begins Parashat Tzav with a very different word: צַו — command. Not suggestion. Not inspiration. Obligation. And Chazal tell us something that runs against everything we instinctively believe: greater is the one who is commanded and does than the one who vo...

 There is a fire that everyone sees — and then there is a fire that no one sees at all. This class begins with a quiet detail most people miss, including me: the unusually small מ in the word מוֹקְדָה at the start of Parashat Tzav. From that single letter, a powerful question emerges. What does the Torah want from our fire? Is it the moment of inspiration, the visible passion, the dramatic co...

 There is a line in the Haggadah that should bother you. “Not only one has risen against us…” — but many. Why would we highlight that? Why would we thank Hashem for a world filled with enemies? Unless the Haggadah is not describing the danger… but revealing the miracle hidden inside it.     In this morning’s class, we take a closer look at Vehi She’amda and uncover a pattern th...

In this week's 11AM class, we explore one of the most fascinating and overlooked passages in the Siddur — the short prayer recited after reading the offerings of the **Nesi’im* during the month of Nissan. It’s a page most of us have rarely stopped to examine. But when we begin to unpack its language, it opens into an extraordinary world described by the Zohar and later Kabbalistic masters — a worl...

The wise son asks the most thoughtful question of the Seder: Why so many mitzvot? Why all the rituals, details, and commandments connected to the Exodus from Egypt? The Haggadah answers with an unexpected halachah: “Ein maftirin achar haPesach afikoman.” In this morning's breakfast and a class we uncover the profound message behind that answer. Through the teachings of the Sefer HaChinuch and clas...

This week’s parashah VaYikra opens with a tiny detail that carries a powerful message. The small aleph in the word וַיִּקְרָא has fascinated Torah scholars for generations. Why would Moshe Rabbeinu — the greatest prophet who ever lived — intentionally make the letter smaller? In this morning’s breakfast and a class, inspired by a teaching often shared by Rabbi Abittan זצ״ל, we explore the insight...

What really happened in the camp of Israel after the sin of the Golden Calf? The Torah opens Parashat Vayaqhel with a seemingly simple line: “Moshe assembled the entire congregation of the children of Israel.” But according to the Or HaḤayim and the Zohar, this was not just a speech or a construction meeting for the Mishkan. It was something far more dramatic. Even after the sin had been forgiven...