Despite the best efforts of the wise-hearted and tzaddikim, only Moshe could erect the Mishkan. How come? Only Moshe’s selfless heart could unify B’nei Yisrael, making him the key to bringing down the Divine Presence. Discover the deeper meaning behind this miracle and what all this has to do with the fact that Moshe was 10 amot tall!
Why does the Torah forbid building the Mishkan on Shabbat? Explore the deep connection between divine rest and spiritual self-nullification to the Light of the Ein Sof. Uncover the mystical significance of Shabbat and its role in transcending physical creation. Read more to unlock these profound insights.
Parashat Terumah delves into the significance of the contributions to the Mishkan. Explore the spiritual lessons behind Hashem's command to "take" a terumah and how giving with a generous heart brings us closer to divine wisdom and understanding.
![Blood [is] Money](https://www.theshoemakerreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/doctor.healer-768x429.jpeg)
The Torah teaches that someone who injures another is responsible for medical expenses (Shemot 21:19). This passage also introduces the phrase "v'rapo y'rapei," which leads to a deeper exploration of the role of doctors and the spiritual implications of healing. What secret do these words come to reveal?
How to Fulfill the Mitzvah of 'You Shall Love Your Fellow as Yourself': Commenting on the fact that Shemot 19:2 describes Am Yisrael using the plural וַיַּחֲנוּ (and they encamped) and then just two words later describes it using the singular וַיִּחַן (and it encamped), Rashi famously writes that they had achieved a level of...
What the War of Gog and Magog is Really All About: "Moshe ben Amram! Why do you keep letting up and giving the Egyptians one respite after another? That just hardens their hearts and emboldens them even more. Don't you understand that? Just finish them off already! Enough is enough. Haven't we been in galut...
How Come Esav Didn't Do Teshuvah? Ya'akov Avinu had finally extricated himself from Lavan's control. He had crossed the Yarden, entered Eretz Cana'an and was preparing to meet his brother Esav. He sent messengers ahead of himself, whom Rashi tells us, based on Bereshit Rabbah 75:4, were מַלְאָכִים מַמָּשׁ (literally 'angels'), instructing them with these...
What Was So Wrong With Lavan? It is written (Bereshit 3:1): וְהַנָּחָשׁ הָיָה עָרוּם מִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְיָ אֱלֹקִים (And the Nachash was more arum than all the animals of the field which Hashem G-d had made). What is the meaning of עָרוּם [arum]? The Bechor Shor says it means that he spoke...
The Brothers Ate Eiver Min ha-Chai? When beginning the story of Yosef, the Torah tells us (Bereshit 37:2): וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת־דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל־אֲבִיהֶם (And Yosef brought their defamation to their father). Much has been written about how the brothers defamed Yosef, but what was at the root of their disagreement with him? Rashi lists three...
The Secret of Eiver Min ha-Chai: We know the story. Yitzchak Avinu called for his eldest son to come to him (Bereshit 27:1). After he arrived, Yitzchak told Esav that he was approaching the day of his death (27:2), although he didn't know exactly when it would come, and that he wanted him to go...
The Importance of Desire: Born into American slavery in 1856, Booker T. Washington was freed at the age of 9 when U.S. Troops, arriving the area in which he lived, enforced President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Teaching himself to read, he devoured every book he could get his hands on. He supported himself and paid for...
Rosh Hashanah and Breaking the Power of Imagination: Good things come in threes: three patriarchs (Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov), three mochin [spiritual brains] (chochmah, binah and da'at), three kinds of seichel [intellect] (potential, actualized and acquired), three lower aspects of the Jewish soul (nefesh, ruach and neshamah), three 'garments', i.e. manifestations, of the soul (machshavah...