Parashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test YourselfAfter enumerating the 10 Plagues in the Hagada, Rabbi Yehuda adds an acronym, enumerating the Makot by their Hebrew initials: D’TZACH ADASH B’ACHAV. Why was this necessary? We already have recited all the Plagues! One answer is that it helps the children learning about the Exodus remember the Makot (& children are the essential audience at the Seder). It also indicates two patterns: 1) Before the first 2 Plagues of each group, Moshe warned Paro of what was coming. But the last Plague of the three came without warning. 2) The first 3 Plagues were brought by Ahron, using his staff. The 2nd group was brought by Moshe without the use of his staff, while the 3rd group was brought by Moshe with his staff. As for removing a bit of wine, there are 2 opinions: some say it is to lesson our joy ("wine makes the heart happy") because so many of G-d’s creations died at the Yam Suf; others say it represents the enormous amount of Jewish blood that was spilled in the course of 100+ years of cruel slavery.
The Prophet Shmuel is the "cause" for the uprising by Korah and his gang. But if we look more deeply, we will see that Shmuel is also the rectification of Korah's sin! How so?
. It has been statistically shown that as prosperity rises in certain sections of society, the birthrate in that section of society declines. For me, this was always counterintuitive.
I often give glass s`alad bowls as presents. Is there any problem with doing `tevilat keilim on them before giving them to save time for the recipient or out of concern that they will not do tevila?
Paul advances the idea of preferring an organization, a sect, a particular ideology to the natural framework of family, land, nation, and language. Henceforth, he who joins this movement will be redeemed; non-members are doomed to eternal perdition.
The holiday approached and Rosh Hashanah arrived. Rabbi Amnon of Mainz asked his relatives to bring him to the synagogue with all of his dismembered organs and to place him by the prayer leader. We can well image the atmosphere in the synagogue.