Maghen Abraham - Thoughts From Mayer Sasson

"And Moshe spoke… Let G-d…appoint a man over the congregation who will go out before them…will lead them out…And G-d said unto Moshe – Take unto you Yehoshua the son of Nun, a man in whom there is spirit…" (27, 15-18)

Reaped the fruits

Moshe prayed to G-d to "appoint a man over the congregation" and he asked that one of his sons take...Read more...

What merit?

"… fear him not for I have delivered him into your hand… and you shall do unto him as you did unto Sichon King of the Amorites…." (21, 34)

The Parsha of Chukat ends with the description of the victory of the Children of Israel over two kings east of the Jordan River, Sichon the King of Amora and Og the King of Bashan. It is...Read more...

"And they came to the Valley of the Cluster of Grapes and they cut down from there a vine with one cluster of grapes and they bore it upon a carrying-pole between two…" (13, 23)

Specifically two

On the words "and they bore it upon a carrying-pole between two" our Sages ob'm ask: Why did the Torah write "between two"? If it says "they bore it upon a carrying-pole",...Read more...

"Speak to Aharon and to his sons saying- thus shall you bless the Children of Israel…" (6, 23)

Peace

On the words "Speak to Aharon and to his sons saying- thus shall you bless the Children of Israel" Rabeinu Bichayai says: Our Sages ob'm...Read more...

The numerology of Shimon Ben Yochai "שמעון בן יוחאי" 553 equals .. "מחיה    מתים" Reviving the Dead

The holy Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch used to say: "The day of Lag Baomer is auspicious for remedies and salvations for the initials of the words "מלך רופא נאמן ורחמן"  - a king who is a devoted and compassionate...Read more...

Tremendous power

"Hillel said, do not detach yourself from the public…" (Pirkei Avot, Ch. 2)

The holy book Noam Elimelech (Dvarim) explains that the source of Jewish souls in Heaven is called "All of Israel" and it says "the reason that before we perform a Mitzvah or pray we say "Lishem yichud Kudsha… bishem kol Yisrael…." Is because there...Read more...

Extorting and stealing

"You shall not extort that which is due to your neighbor neither steal from him…." (19,13)

Many wonder why specifically at the loftiest time of the year, on Yom Kippur when we say the Neila prayer, we pray "so that we cease extorting with our hands".

We have countless sins that we should stop, why do we ask...Read more...

"And on the eighth day… his foreskin shall be circumcised." (12,3)

His kikar in his hand

Our Rabbis ob'm said: Rabbi Yitzchak said, Rabbi Ami said: When a male comes to the world, his kikar is in his hand. The word male- "זכר" alludes to "זה כר"- i.e. every boy is born with his kar – his loaf of bread – his livelihood in his...Read more...

"… Do this thing which G-d has commanded and the Glory of G-d will show itself unto you." (9,6)

In which direction?

Rabbi Moshe Elyakim of Kozhnitz related: Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli once came to a crossroads and did not in which direction to turn. He looked to see in which direction the Holy Name of G-d was hovering in front of his eyes and then continued in that...Read more...

"… if a man of you would bring an offering near unto G-d…" (1,2)

Not from theft

It says, "Your sacrifice should be similar to the offering of Adam Harishon. Just as Adam Harishon who owned everything did not bring an offering from theft or from robbery, so you too…. do not bring an offering from theft or from robbery. (Vayikra Rabba)

We must understand. Why do we have to learn the prohibition of bringing an offering from thievery from an allusion learned from the words? There is an explicit verse (in Yeshaya): "For I G-d love judgment, I hate robbery with burnt offerings".Read more...

"And Moshe erected the Tabernacle…" (40,18)

I fell and I stood up

Our Sages ob'm say on the verse in the Torah (Bamidbar) "And it came to pass on the day that Moshe finished setting up the Tabernacle…" that it does not say "on the day Moshe set up the Tabernacle" to teach us that for all the seven days of the Miluim Moshe would erect the...Read more...

''....spices for anointing oil and for the incense of aromatic spices.'' (5, 6)

Atonement for sins

"Something hidden (the Ketoret- Incense) shall come and atone for a hidden deed  (= slander)."

Concerning the service of the Cohen Gadol on Yom Kippur we learn in the gemmara (Yuma) "And it shall atone for...Read more...

"And all the people were seeing the sounds... and the nation saw and they trembled and stood afar off."

"The people were seeing" or "he saw"

On this verse the Sar Shalom of Belz asks: Why does the verse begin in the plural "were seeing" and end in the singular "he saw"?

In order to explain this question. the...Read more...

``And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt when G-d your G-d brought you out from there… therefore G-d your G-d commanded you to fulfill the Shabbat day." (Dvarim 5, 15)

The sale of Yosef

It is brought in the holy books that the reason that we make the blessing on two breads on Shabbat is to remedy the sin of selling Yosef. The source thereof is the new...Read more...

"I shall be that which I Will be." "אהיה אשר אהיה" (3,14)

To see the light amidst the dark

The fact that G-d's Name comes from the words "אהיה אשר אהיה" comes to allude to us that He acts from Above with people as a person acts in This World Below. (Rabbi P. Friedman)

We have learned from...Read more...