When Yosef told his brothers that their descendants would one day be redeemed from Mitzrayim , he added that they should make sure that they take his bones with them when they leave. The sefer Tiferet L'Moshe writes, it seems from the way the pasuk is written that there is a connection between the redemption and Yosef's bones. He brings from the se…

We said in the Hagaddah ״ UB’Moftim Zeh HaDam/ And with wonders,” this refers to Blood When the Torah describes one of the ways Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim with moftim , it’s referring to Dam/Blood . The Rishonim ask why Dam would be singled out here if there were another nine Makot . What was so special about Dam that it's called Moftim ? The …

The Mishnah Berura writes at the end of siman 218 in Ohr HaChaim , in the name of the Acharonim , that if a person had some type of miracle performed for him, he should set aside money according to his means and give it to Torah scholars and say, “May it be the will of Hashem that this takes the place of the Korban Toda that I owe.” It is also prop…

People have spent hours upon hours cleaning their homes and making sure to get rid of every last bit of chametz. The nashim tzidkaniyot have had sleepless nights doing very difficult tasks to ensure that not even a crumb of chametz will remain in their homes. And although it is good to feel satisfaction over our accomplishments in avodat Hashem, we…

A few days ago, I was leaving a shul that I usually don't pray at, and a young man stopped me, telling me he wanted to relate a story that happened to him. He then told the most amazing story of hashgacha peratit . I thought to myself, if I wasn't there at that time, I most probably would have never heard that story. And just like this man had a st…

On the night of the Seder we are commanded to relate the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim and thereby imbue into our families the emunah that Hashem runs the world. The Haggadah tells us we have to relate the story even if everyone at the table are חכמים . Which means, even if everyone has a wellspring of emunah that they have already learned from their …

A lot of money needs to be spent to prepare for a holiday, especially a holiday like Pesach. Whether it's food, clothing, or matzot, the money adds up. Shulchan Aruch writes in siman 529 that we are supposed to honor the holiday, and when it comes to something that will bring more honor to the holiday, we should not be cheap about it. The Mishnah B…

With the resha'im in Iran, firing over 300 missiles capable of causing complete annihilation, we are reminded of the words in the Haggadah, בכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותינו - in every generation they rise up against us to destroy us. And how fortunate we are to see the conclusion of that statement with our own eyes. והקב"ה מצילנו מידם - and Hashe…

This week's parasha, Tazriya, speaks about tzaraat , which Chazal tell us primarily came as a result of the sin of lashon hara . The Zohar HaKadosh, in parashat Tazria writes, the same way a person is held accountable for the negative speech that he says, so too he is held accountable for the positive speech that he could have said but refrained fr…

The hashgacha of Hashem is mind-boggling. There are so many things going on behind the scenes that we are completely oblivious to. We don't realize how far-reaching every deed we do goes. We don't realize the ramifications of every action and thought that we have. All we need to know is that we must try our hardest to follow the will of Hashem in e…

The Chovot HaLevavot writes in the Sha’ar HaBitachon, perek 4, that if a person needs something and is contemplating asking someone for help, he should not feel that he has any more chance of getting what he's asking for if he asks a powerful, prominent individual as opposed to asking a less prominent individual. Rather, he should believe it's all …

Nisan is the head of all months. It's a month of miracles, a month that is auspicious for Geula , and we are all hoping that we will finally be zocheh to experience it. The Torah tells us, שמור את חודש האביב , from which we learn that we have to ensure that Nisan comes out in the spring by sometimes adding an extra month of Adar. The sefer Nifseh C…

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zatzal, writes in his sefer , Igrot Moshe , that the main stress of a parent when it comes to chinuch of children should be in emunah in Hashem. The children should be taught that everything they get is a present from Hashem. Then, they'll develop a love for Hashem as well as their parents who are Hashem's messengers to give th…

In this week's parasha, Shemini, we read about the kosher and non-kosher species, those that we’re allowed to eat and those that we’re not allowed to eat. One of the birds listed, which is not kosher, is called the chasidah . Rashi brings down the reason it's called a chasidah is because it does chesed with its friends by providing them with food. …

Although Hashem does not reveal Himself openly to people, He has infinite ways of communicating with them. We all know He listens to our tefilot , and we all know He helps us all the time. But when we see it so clearly, it gives us extra chizuk . A woman told me, when she was about four months pregnant, she went for a standard sonogram. The radiolo…

The Shomer Emunim writes at the end of Perek 5 in his Ma'amar on Hashgacha Pratit that any afflictions which Hashem brings upon a person is only because of His endless chesed and love for the person, as it says in Mishleh Perek 13. Furthermore, any amount of suffering or inconvenience that a person experiences in this world, even something very sma…

There are times when a person is confronted with very big tests, and sometimes those tests entail giving into another party for peace. Whether it's giving up money, property, or just plain old honor, it's always very difficult to do, especially when the person feels that they should not be the one to give in because it was the other side that cause…

Every moment of life that Hashem gives a person in this world is the greatest chesed . Rabbenu Yonah writes, with a moment of life, a person can make teshuva and go from being in the deepest darkness to the greatest light. The Gemara tells us how, on different occasions, people utilized the final moments of their lives to acquire eternity. Rav Aaro…

In this week's parasha , Hashem tells Moshe צו את אהרון ואת בניו לאמר, and Rashi writes, אין צו אלא לשון זירוז. Moshe was told by Hashem to inspire and encourage the Kohanim regarding their work with the korban olah . Rabbi Reuven Elbaz in his sefer Moshcheni Acharecha writes that in life Hashem gives everybody moments of encouragement and inspirat…

When Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, the Rav of Brisk, left his city to make aliyah , the leaders of the Brisk community sent a delegation to Warsaw to ask Rav Yosef Dov Soloveichik, otherwise known as the Bet HaLevi, to become their new Rav. When the Rabbi heard the offer, he immediately declined the position. The delegation persisted with arguments as …

The Chovot HaLevavot describes at the end of the Sha’ar HaBitachon the eighth level of trust in Hashem, in which a person understands that he needs Hashem for everything he does, even the simplest tasks, and because of that he is constantly looking to Hashem for help all day long. This will enable him to get to the next level. He will begin to appr…

The Chovot Ha Levavot, at the end of the last perek of the Shaar HaBitachon gives us a rule about having bitachon in Hashem. He says the more a person learns about Hashem and understands how much control He has over the person's life and how much He cares for the person's well-being, the more bitachon the person will have in Him. This means we need…

The Gemara says we don't say Hallel on Purim because the reading of the Megilah takes the place of Hallel. On the surface level, this is difficult to understand. Hallel is words of praise to Hashem while reading the Megila just tells a story. In fact, the name of Hashem is not written there at all, so where exactly is the praise? One answer is that…

One of the lessons that we are supposed to take away from Purim is that there are no coincidences in life. Mordechai did not just happen to overhear Bigtan and Teresh plotting to kill the king. Achashverosh did not just happen to have trouble sleeping hours before Haman was going to come to his house and tell him to hang Mordechai. Achashverosh did…

The Mishnah Berurah writes that we fast on Ta'anit Esther because on the 13th of Adar the Jewish people gathered together to fight for their lives and they needed to cry out to Hashem and fast to get Heavenly help to defeat their enemies. The fast is to remind us that whenever a person is in trouble and he fasts and makes teshuva and cries out to H…