Parshah (Weekly Torah Reading)

Jeremiah 7:21-28; 9:22-23. This week's haftorah touches on the subject of sacrifices, the main topic of the week's Torah portion. G‑d tells the prophet Jeremiah to rebuke the Jewish people, saying that His primary intention in taking their forefathe...

Malachi 3:4–24 Note: According to Chabad custom, this haftarah is read only when Shabbat Hagadol is the day before Passover, which is relatively rare. The haftarah begins with the word ve’arvah (“and it will be pleasant”), as the prophet foretells the tim...

The Torah portion of Tzav opens with G‑d’s instruction to Moses to command the people regarding the sacrifices. The Torah typically introduces a mitzvah using one of three terms: daber – “speak,” emor – “say,” or tzav – “command.” Among these, tzav is the...

There is a fire of love for G‑d that burns within every soul. It is the task of the kohen—the spiritual leader—to find and feed this fire. As we celebrate the Rebbe‘s birthday, we recognize how the Rebbe kindles the flame of every Jew and encourages us to...

Judaism views every activity in life as an opportunity to connect with the Almighty. Nothing is trivial or without purpose. We’ve been given specific mitzvot to uplift the seemingly insignificant parts of our lives, yet we can lose ourselves in the daily ...

Introduction In one of the midrashim to which Chassidus refers very frequently, our Sages Shmos Rabbah 12:3. describe the new development brought about by the Giving of the Torah: To what can this matter be likened? To a king who decreed, “The inhabitants...

Introduction When explaining the phrase, Tehillim 16:8. שִׁוִיתִי ה' לְנֶגְדִי תָמִיד, “I placed G‑d before me at all times,” the Baal Shem Tov See Tz’vaos HaRivosh, Hosafos, p. 110. focused on the word שִׁוִיתִי, noting that it shares the same root as th...

Introduction The Baal Shem Tov once taught his disciples that everything they see or hear should serve as a lesson in serving G‑d. On their way home after hearing this teaching, they saw a non-Jew carving a cross out of the ice on the river. They were ast...