Why Yehoshua Told the Sun to be Quiet In last week’s study entitled Be Quiet, Sun!, we learned that Yehoshua bin Nun merited to silence the Sun in the Valley of Ayalon and defeat the army of the five kings because he had remained silent in the face of the insults and accusations that were…
Yehoshua’s Merit in the Valley of Ayalon What does the prophecy of Eldad and Meidad have to do with Yehoshua bin Nun telling the sun to be silent? This past Tuesday, the 3rd of Tammuz, was the anniversary of a decisive and strategically important victory for Yehoshua and B’nei Yisrael as part of their southern…
A Practical Strategy to Survive the Darkness Let’s be honest. No matter who we are or what we do, the war is taking its toll on us, sucking away our vitality. Many of us are sad or depressed. Grief, despair, worry, and sleepless nights are all on the rise. We are either directly suffering from…
Yaakov’s Encounter with the Ministering Angel of Esav After Yaakov Avinu conducted his family and possessions across the river when returning to what would eventually become known as Eretz Yisrael, we read the following in the Torah (Bereshit 32:25): וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר (And Yaakov was left alone, and a…
Learning from King Chizkiyahu’s Mistake Many years ago, during the reign of the righteous king Chizkiyahu, the kingdom of Yehudah was being overrun by the Assyrians. One Jewish city after the other fell to the invaders and the local population of Jews were subjected to unspeakable atrocities. One final city remained unconquered—Yerushalayim. High officials of…
Last week in our article Don’t Worry, You Won’t Die we examined Chavah’s grave error in eating from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Torah describes her acceptance of the advice of the Nachash [Primordial Serpent] as a form of seduction, as it says in Likutei Moharan 7:3:…
Describing the time in the future when Mashiach will reign, David ha-Melech expressed a beautiful thought simply and eloquently (Tehillim 149:3): יְהַלְלוּ שְׁמוֹ בְמָחוֹל בְּתֹף וְכִנּוֹר יְזַמְּרוּ־לוֹ (Let them praise His name with a circle-dance; with tambourine and with lyre let them make music to Him). Let us understand why dancing is the primary expression…