Torah Books

Two Types of Donations In Parshas Vayakhel, the Torah relates how all the Jews men, women, and childrenAvos d’Rabbi Nosson 11:1; see also the commentary of the Or HaChayim to the beginning of Parshas Vayakhel. donated toward the construction of the Sanctu...

Purposeful Apportionment As with all the concepts in the Torah, the division of the parshiyos is the result of precise and purposeful choice. Every Torah reading communicates a particular concept. It is not the size of the readings that determines their d...

Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XVI, p. 475ff. I. After the Torah describes the erection of the Sanctuary in detail,Shmos 40:17ff. it relates that the Divine Presence rested upon the Sanctuary, as it is written:Ibid.:34. “And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting a...

Introduction Frequently, the Rebbe would explain that, when two Torah readings are combined, three themes emerge: the themes that each of the two parshiyos itself individually communicates and a third theme that results from the combination of the two. Al...

"Wise-hearted" sounds contradictory. Wisdom is a faculty of the mind, but the heart is the seat of our emotions.

Four of the last five Sidrot have dealt with the construction of the Sanctuary and its vessels by the Israelites. What is the difference between them that justifies their division into four separate Sidrot? There is a clear difference between the first tw...

Vayakhel begins with Moses assembling the Israelites on the day after Yom Kippur, to repeat to them the commandment of Shabbat. The passage raises several questions, especially in its use of the passive in the phrase, “Six days shall work be done.” In its...

The breastplate was a garment worn by the high priest while serving in the Holy Temple.

Jachin and Boaz were the great pillars of copper that were at the entrance of the Holy Temple.

The High Priest's apron-like garment called the "ephod" had gems over the shoulder straps with the names of the twelve tribes engraved in them. The classical sources differ as to the order in which the tribes were named on the jewels. A spiritual interpre...