by Rabbi Ephrayim Back | Jun 24, 2015
Each year, our national memory is gradually reinforced over the course of the year: the process begins with the minor fasts, spread over the year like warning signs, then intensifies with the “three weeks” starting on the 17th of Tammuz, culminating in the “nine days”...
by Yedidya Gruber | Jul 25, 2009
Yedidya Gruber Former Shaliach in Atlanta As we approach Tisha B’Av, we are frequently enjoined to recall the famous Talmudic dictum: “Every generation which did not witness the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash, it is considered as if it was destroyed in that...
by Rabbi Shlomo Sobol | Jul 28, 2006
Rabbi Shlomo Sobol Former Rosh Kollel in Detroit We have merited starting Sefer Devarim, the last of the Five Books of the Torah. Devarim opens with the phrase: “These are the words”. In Sefer Shmot (21:1), Rashi cites the Midrash: “Wherever it says ‘these’, it...
by Rabbi Ephrayim Back | Jul 24, 2004
“Tzibbur” (Community) = Tzaddikim (the righteous); Beinonim (the average), and Resha’im (the wicked) The parsha of Devarim is always read on the Shabbat preceding Tish’a B’Av, and in honor of the ‘haftarah’ that we read it is called “Shabbat Hazon”. The three weeks...
