Va'etchanan

Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IX, p. 61ff. I. The TurOrach Chayim, ch. 428. See also Shulchan Aruch and Ramah 428:8, Tosafos Megillah 31b, and Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Tefillah 13:19. states that from Parshas Bereishis until the Seventeenth of Tammuz, “the ...

The 9th of Av is the date on which both Temples were destroyed. Each year, on the subsequent Shabbat, we read as our Haftorah the famous passage of consolation from Isaiah “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people.” The Midrash tells us that this is, literally, a...

Vaes’chanan, the first word of our Torah reading, means “I pleaded.” Moses pleaded with G-d, asking Him to allow him to enter the Land of Israel. Why did Moses want to enter the Land of Israel? Did he want to see its sights, or taste its fruits? Our Sages...

Yankie felt very lucky. Instead of going to camp, his parents let him visit his cousins in Eretz Yisrael. He arrived on Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning he was standing for the first time at the Kosel HaMaravi. Everyone around was praying. Yankie was so ...

Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXII, pgs. 115-117; Vol. XXIV, p. 28ff What is Prayer? The Rambam describes prayer as follows:Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Tefillah 1:2. The obligation [this] commandment entails is to offer supplication and prayer every day; ...

There are times when your love for another is so strong that it supersedes even your greatest dreams and aspirations.

What is it about the Shema Yisroel prayer that has inspired so many through the most trying of times and has provided such meaning and purpose to help us survive even the most despairing circumstances?

The second section of the Book of Deuteronomy opens as Moses recalls how he pleaded (Va’etchanan, in Hebrew) with G-d to allow him to enter the Land of Israel. Moses tells the rest of the Jewish people that they will soon enter the land without him. Moses...

"ואתחנן אל ה'" “And I implored G‑d.” (3:23) QUESTION: According to the Midrash Rabbah (11:10) the word “Va’etchanan” (ואתחנן) which has the numerical value of five hundred and fifteen, teaches us, that Moshe prayed five hundred and fifteen prayers to Hash...