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Rabbi Moshe Bernstein

 Bo- The Abolition of Idolatry

           


This week's Torah portion tells of the special commandment that the Israelites received on the eve of their exodus from Egypt: Each family was commanded to take a lamb home on the tenth of the Jewish month of Nisan, to keep the lamb at home for four days, and on the fourteenth of Nisan to slaughter it for the 'Passover sacrifice.' The lamb was one of the Egyptian idols. Could the Jew tell his Egyptian neighbor that he was keeping the lamb in his house for 4 days just in order to slaughter it for a sacrifice?


The lamb was an Egyptian false idol. Its slaughter was to demonstrate the disregard for idolatry in front of everyone. All the Egyptian neighbors came and asked why they were keeping the lamb at home and what they were planning to do with it. The answer was that the lamb will be…


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David Keller
yesterday
•

Thank you very much for posting this summary of your thoughts, Rabbi Moshe Bernstein. Since you've mentioned getting rid of idolatry in the world, I wanted to share that my wife explained to me yesterday that reducing one's freedom in the things that one is not permitted will increase one's freedom in the things that one is permitted, which I found a good teaching. It is along the line of the sages' saying that a little bit of arousal from below will generate an even greater arousal from above. Furthermore, I would like to recommend your book, "Light Onto the Torah Portions: Insights on the Torah portions and holidays for Noahides". I've got your book, "Light Onto the Torah Portions: Insights on the Torah portions and holidays for Noahides", as a Channukah present for my wife ( https://www.amazon.com/Light-Onto-Torah-Portions-Insights/dp/B0DJ2M3592/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XPYZGY56BU0H&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FetkLQRGpTtW_1mKJQxpOQ.G8tmaGbrncpNJJgWzw0KrYieYrk6r8op5xdcPojE0h8&dib_tag=se&keywords=B0DJ2M3592&qid=1738228412&sprefix=%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1). So I'm very interested to see what your thoughts were in the book, and now that I've got the new edition I am obviously also very curious to see what you've written in the old edition (https://www.amazon.de/Light-Onto-Nations-Guide-Noahide/dp/9659222211/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=6L5IW0B8SDCM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F3g9sNCmuf3rTK-k70fzKzBfdpOZ-snKD1x_af9uBXhpdgglB6TlcUdPmNHNJVXvqZsN63_4FfCRmVAAafGrSI-H5rA8rvgw0QM53nJzBdjvWPmyByPPNP-QZ5o2XcwEnmLajBfz7kRyrupmj5dacEX45PrKiePxEIa5gWyey3wMmV6KK7_aaBQuM8RsPV8lYZOGy-WGr0fgRAlgM0KTPWM2S42zytypoNu-EQwy4wc.kHuWCmnG08ei5IZapNsFnK6UI4FG9NYps2mfrycAy48&dib_tag=se&keywords=rabbi+moshe+bernstein&qid=1738228379&sprefix=rabbi+moshe+berenstein%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-2).

Rabbi Moshe Bernstein

Shemot: A Reflection on Human Nature

      


Our Torah portion, Shemot, recounts that when Moses grew up in Pharaoh's household and went out to see his brothers, he saw "two Hebrew men fighting," that were striking each other. Moses' reaction was, "And he said to the wicked one, 'Why do you strike your fellow?'" The word 'strike,' in the future tense, indicates that the man had not yet struck his fellow, and yet, he is already called 'wicked.' Indeed, the Torah (Sanhedrin 58b) learns from this that "one who raises his hand against his fellow, even if he has not struck him, is called wicked." We can view the raising of the hand as the beginning of the act of striking another. This is the novelty of this matter: even the beginning of the act of striking causes a person to be called 'wicked.'


However, the assertion that the person is called 'wicked' is not only…


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Rabbi Moshe Perets
16 days ago

Rabbi

Founder & Director

Last Days...

Shalom to all!


These are the last days to Register to our new Live Sunday Course : Choshen Mishpat II: https://www.noahideacademy.org/choshen-mishpat2



Choshen Mishpat II: https://www.noahideacademy.org/choshen-mishpat2


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Miguel

Who is a Hasid? I got lost in the sources

Shalom to all, baruch Hashem (ב"ה),


In the book Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge, footnote 186 mentions that the saying "Who is a Hasid? One who goes beyond the measure of the law" can be found in the commentary of Rashi on Pirkei Avot 6:1. However, upon reviewing the mishnah itself and the commentary of Rashi available in English, I could not locate this statement explicitly.


Additionally, the same footnote refers to Rambam's introduction to Pirkei Avot, chapter 4, as a source for this teaching. While the Rambam does discuss similar ideas in that chapter, his explanation seems to frame the concept differently, describing the deviation beyond the measure of the law as a means to correct one's behavior due to the natural inclination toward the evil inclination (yetzer hara).


Where can I find the saying "Who is a Hasid?" explicitly stated in these or other sources? Perhaps I missed something in my…


David Keller
21 hours ago
•

You should perhaps peruse  https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1600969/jewish/Chassidut.htm and https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/332484/jewish/Chassidic-History.htm. I remember that chabad.org has an historical article about the Chabad Chassidic movement. My following ramblings are all from memory, so please accept that not everything might be written so perfectly. It was very well written, and it said that when the movement came about it also faced some backlash from some people in the Orthodox Jewish world. Apparently, the term Chassid already referred to a very pious person at the time, and people perhaps felt a bit upset that Chabad Chassidim used that term to describe themselves, which one could interpret to mean that other groups are perhaps not pious. The article concluded though that since G'd, Hashem, allowed the Chabbad Chassidic movement to go on, which one could say starts with King David HaMelech, Ben Jesse, continued with his son, King Shlomo HaMelech Ben David, King Rehoboam HaMelech Ben Shlomo, ..., Yehuda the Prince, ..., Rashi, ... the Baal Shem Tov, ... Menachem Mendel Schneerson, G'd, Hashem, concluded with the Chabad Chassidic movement, which made the decision to use the established term Chassid for their movement. I remember reading that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson's wife, Chaya, who herself was not blessed with children in this world, said that the Chassidim are her children! How beautiful! I'm a struggling beinoni, who with G'd's help can merge his soul with a tzaddik, bez'rat Hashem, Ben Noach of the Jewish Chabad Chassidic movement, who practices Anciet Torah Temple Judaism. I'm one of Chaya's children, if of course she was including Bnei Noach in her statement. Because Jewish I'm not.

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