Simchas Avraham

Doing a mitzvah with simcha is extremely integral to doing a mitzvos. Also, one who does them with simcha gets double the reward for doing it with happiness and enthusiasm.

Amalek jumped right into the hot, scalding bath. They did the exact opposite of how one conquers the Yetzer Hara. Don't be like them.

One may think that to do teshuva you have to take the first step and initiate the process. However, it's not true. The first step has already been taken. Hashem is already here. He's making it so much easier for us than you may think.

One who wants to beat the Yetzer Hara should consider it a disgusting piece of filth. Make it disgusting in your eyes and then you can overcome the challenge placed in front of you at that moment.

Eidem Zomimim is paid back with whatever they wanted to be done to the accused. However, HKB"H doesn't act that way towards us. He doesn't deal with us in the same manner. He gives us a lot more wiggle room

Everyone has an area that they excel in. During this time of Elul that we're holding in, perhaps its a good idea to use that area to bring it out in the open and get more merits for the coming year.

There are certain individuals who the Torah lets go home and not go to battle. They are not holding by waging war at this moment. Not only that, but it may be an aveira to go.

The Torah calls us Hashem's sons. What specifically makes us His sons? That we're physically alive, or that we have an eternal life? It's both!!

Both Amalek and Mitzrayim played significant roles in our history. As a result, both of them need to be remembered. But how and when to remember them is vastly different.

The same exact thing can be seen by two different people in a totally opposite view. What one person may like, the other one may not. It's all up to the individual.

Just accepting upon oneself עול מלכות שמים does not suffice. One needs to accept every mitzvah individually as well. Hashem wants individual attention to everything done. Not just an overall general acceptance.

The passuk asks us to fear Hashem, yet it says that we have to love Him as well. This teaches us how to balance our Avodas Hashem through everything we do. We need to both love and fear. The trick is how to walk that delicate line.

It's no coincidence that Tu B'av follows shortly after Tisha B'av. After mourning the Beis Hamikdash we transition to one of the happiest days of the year. When a couple has peace and harmony in their house, they also have the Shechina there together with them. If we haven't been zoche to have the Beis Hamikash yet, we can have it in every home individually.

What is so integral about the pasuk of "Shema"?? Why the repetition of "Hashem" in the pasuk?? The Abarbanel illuminates the pasuk for us.

After Tisha Bav we have seven weeks of nechama as opposed to three weeks of פרעניות from Shivah Asar Btamuz till tisha Bav. Perhaps it is because we need to feel and commiserate with Shechina for that long and then we can accept HKB"H as our King on Rosh Hashanah.

Tisha Bav is not like mourning for a close relative who passes away. If that was the case, we should have ceased to mourn long ago. The mourning signifies that this is very different. We know that it will come to an end. The day will come that redemption will come.

At the end of the parsha Moshe Rabbeinu tells Bnei Yisrael the secret to winning a war. No, it's not about different tactics on the ground or in the air. It's about the Only One who you can you rely on.

Moshe Rabbeinu started rebuking Klal Yisrael by telling them a joke in order that they should be receptive. When a person is in a jovial mood, he's more receptive to what is being said.

Moshe, Yeshaya, & Yermiyah all used the term "eichah". When they said it, they all had the same sentiment. It wasn't to be taken literally. It was more rhetorical. How did such a holy nation fall to such depths?!?! How could it be?!?!?

The Torah goes out of its way to tell us every stop that was made on the way to Eretz Yisrael. Every stop had a purpose, had a reason. It wasn't for naught. So too, a person can have different stops along the way that they didn't to make. In the end though, it too, was for for a purpose.

One of the places Bnei Yisrael traveled to in the desert was Midbar Sinai. But the Torah here makes no mention of what took place there, unlike by other stops they had along the way. R Moshe Feinstein z'l approaches this in a practical way for us today.

The Parsha starts out talking about making vows. What does that have to do with the end of the end of the parsha last week? Perhaps it's coming to tell us that when you commit to do an undertaking, it's not to be taken lightly. Make sure you say "bli neder".

Pinchas was immensely rewarded for his act. But he didn't take over as leader after Moshe Rabbeinu. That was Yehoshua. Perhaps that could be because when someone does such a cruel act he's viewed differently. He can't be seen as cruel and be a leader at the same time..

What's the most important pasuk in the Torah?? Lots of choices to choose from. One opinion is that the most important one is the one that breeds greatness.

The parsha has a common denominator. Everything is connected to Eretz Yisrael, the Beis Hamikdash, & of course the final geula. ‏במהירה בימינו אמן