Inner Torah

In Parshas Lech Lecha, Avraham starts his journey, which is really our journey to Eretz Yisrael. Eretz Yisrael is a central point in the entire Torah with a tremendous amount of depth and meaning. I’d like to focus on one topic and see how this connects back to Avraham and his epic voyage to the Promised Land.  We know, as the Torah tells us in Parshas Bo, that there is a Mitzvah of Kiddush Hachodesh, sanctifying the new month. This isn’t just an arbitrary Mitzvah. This was the first Mitzvah we were given as a Jewish people and a Mitzvah which helps us partner with Hashem to create the holiness of the Jewish calendar and fix all of our Chagim and ensuing Mitzvos connected to them.  The Rambam, in Hilchos Kiddush Hachodesh 5:3 teaches us that this Mitzvah was uniquely suited to be performed in Eretz Yisrael by the Sanhedrin. But after our exile, our sages fixed the calendar based upon astronomical calculations, no longer the technical witnessing of the new moon. We see a basic...

  Have you taken a close look at your Tefillin lately, especially the Tefillin Shel Rosh? Remarkably, within these small leather boxes contain all of the secrets of Hashem and His universe. Hashem himself wears Tefillin and Moshe desperately wanted to achieve the highest level prophecy imaginable by seeing Hashem’s Tefillin, His true essence, but he was denied. Our Tefillin are mirror reflections of Hashem’s Tefillin, so it makes sense that there is a lot of higher level wisdom packed into these little boxes.  One of the details I’m referring to is the fact that the Tefillin Shel Rosh are divided into four separate components. I was in a shiur by a regarded Posek in Safrus and Tefillin and he was urging everyone to make sure that these four boxes aren’t actually touching each other and there is enough space in between the sections that light could pass through. I had heard about this idea before but wasn’t so familiar, so I decided to dive in a little bit deeper into the Halac...

  One of the most enigmatic details of Parshas Noach and really the entire Torah is the episode of the drunken sleep of Noach. In Genesis 9:21, after the flood finishes, the Torah says: וַיֵּשְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּיִן וַיִּשְׁכָּר וַיִּתְגַּל בְּתוֹךְ אָהֳלה And he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and he uncovered himself inside his tent. The Torah then goes on to describe how his son Ham sees his father naked and tells his brothers, Shem and Japheth. In contrast, Shem and Japheth cover Noah respectfully, walking backward so as not to see him. But what exactly is going over here? Noach was someone supremely righteous, a unique star in humanity. And while it’s true, the commentaries point out his lackings compared to Avraham Avinu, the mere fact that this is his comparison means that he achieved a cosmic level of holiness and greatness far beyond anything we could imagine.  With this in mind, how do we understand his post-flood actions? Do we assume that he was merely traumatized ...

  Having learned for many years in Litvish Yeshivas, it always bothered me about why Chabad doesn’t sleep in the Sukkah.  I heard the idea that the holiness of the Sukkah was too intense for them to sleep. But to me, this seemed to contradict blatant halachos in the Gemara and Shulchan Aruch.  Yes, our halachic codes give exemptions for sleeping in the Sukkah: cold, discomfort, privacy, safety… but overwhelming spiritual lights isn’t one of them! But as my understanding and appreciation for the world of Penimius Hatorah matured, I decided to take a fresh look at the question, why does Chabad (and other Chassidim) find an exemption from sleeping in the Sukkah.  It all starts with understanding a concept called Makif of Binah. It was this Makif of Binah that the Mittler Rebbe of Chabad felt the deep presence of and for this reason could not fall asleep in the Sukkah.  To give some background, in Kabbalah and Chassidus, there are two different types of lights or Di...

  In the narrative of the Story of Creation, there are so many deep ideas, cryptic details, each one a world of its own. One of these fascinating points is the account of the creation of Chava, the first woman. Originally Adam, the collective consciousness of humanity is created complete, with both masculine and feminine energies within one being.  The ideal, just like the supernal light created on the first day, represents a flash of inspiration, a glimpse into the next worldly state of perfection and unity. But just as that primordial light was hidden away, so too humanity would have to be separated into the male and female metaconsciousness, and given the challenge of achieving unity on their own.  But if we take a look at the Passuk that introduces this concept in Genesis 2:21 some interesting details and questions emerge: וַיַּפֵּל֩ יהוה אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ תַּרְדֵּמָ֛ה עַל־הָאָדָ֖ם וַיִּישָׁ֑ן וַיִּקַּ֗ח אַחַת֙ מִצַּלְעֹתָ֔יו וַיִּסְגֹּ֥ר בָּשָׂ֖ר תַּחְתֶּֽנָּה So God יהוה ...