Over time we hope to be filling this page with regular article summaries by Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, with links to the specific articles.
The Meaning of "With"
"Your brother shall live with you ("Imach" in Hebrew)"
The Torah here refers to the obligation to help someone find a means of supporting themselves before they become needy. As Rashi tells us "If a person stumbles, before he falls one can save him, after he falls down, five cannot lift him up". Read more
Grain, Growth and Goodness
In this weeks Torah portion, Parshat Emor, we read the Torah's instruction that on the second day of Passover we should bring a measure -an "Omer" -of the first cutting of our barley harvest to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to G-d, and not to partake of that year's barley crop -or any other newly harvested grain, until that offering is made. Read more
Don't be Holy
The English word "holy" indicates G-dly, otherworldly, a state of being that is fundamentally different from the norms of everyday life. Indeed, the OED indicates that the etymology is derived from the same root as "wholly" -something entirely dedicated to G-d. Read more
