Popular Shows by Eli Podcast Productions: Page 5

401

Having The Right Perspective • Parshas Vaera • Ep. 7

Jan 11, 2018

9:33

Hashem tells Moshe how much He misses the Avos, who never complained the way Moshe did. Why is that a fair comparison, when Moshe was crying out for his people and not for himself, as he did again after the Egel? The Dalki Moshe on the Midrash in Parshas Vaera finds the rebuke in one word Moshe chose. It touches what we call good and bad when life hits hard, and Rabbi Asaf Prisman closes with a recent headline that showed how one man lived it.

402

To Do What is Really Right • Parshas Bo • Ep. 8

Jan 18, 2018

13:20

Why would the same garments be a merit in one place and a command in another? In Parshas Bo, Bnei Yisrael are saved in the merit of not changing their clothing, yet Hashem tells them to take clothing from the Egyptians. Three yeshiva boys, a popular band, and a Rosh Yeshiva who gives an ultimatum over something that was perfectly permitted bring the question close to home. Why would a Rosh Yeshiva care so much? It reaches every choice we make about things that are allowed.

403

Hakaras Hatov • Parshas Beshalach • Ep. 9

Jan 25, 2018

14:52

What did the sea see that made it split? The Midrash in Yalkut Tehillim says it saw the coffin of Yosef, and compares the sea to Yosef running away. But why would Hashem need such an open miracle at all, when Bnei Yisrael could have fought Mitzrayim? The Ksav Sofer's answer touches how we treat people who did us both good and harm. A short scene from Rav Steinman and a doctor closes it, with a few words that stay with you.

404

Listen, Internalize & Act or Else • Parshas Yisro • Ep. 10

Feb 1, 2018

12:48

Most of us have walked out of a powerful shiur saying "wow" and changed nothing by Monday. The Zohar in Parshas Yisro asks why the whole world heard about the splitting of the sea and shuddered, yet only Yisro came. Rashi says he heard of Kriyas Yam Suf and the war with Amalek. Why those two, and why does his arrival sit right before Matan Torah? Rabbi Asaf Prisman adds the story of a man in a sandwich line in Israel, and a memory that stopped him in his tracks.

405

The Way To Do Chessed • Parshas Mishpatim • Ep. 11

Feb 8, 2018

12:35

The Torah doesn't just say to lend money to a poor person. In Parshas Mishpatim it adds that you must not press him, not take interest, and return his collateral at night. Why spell out so much for a mitzvah everyone understands? Rav Chaim Shmulevitz finds a principle behind the details, and the Gemara in Bava Basra gives it numbers. Rabbi Asaf Prisman brings a Chofetz Chaim story about an innkeeper, a guest and a glass that did not go where you would expect.

406

When Absence Speaks Volumes • Parshas Tetzaveh • Ep. 12

Feb 22, 2018

13:23

Moshe asked Hashem to erase his name from the Torah if Israel wasn't forgiven, and one parsha, Tetzaveh, is the only one without his name. Why is a man punished for caring so much about his people? And why this parsha, the one about the Kohanim? A Gemara in Zevachim says Moshe lost the role of Kohen Gadol, and that points to two ways of serving Hashem. Rabbi Asaf Prisman closes with Rebbetzin Kanievsky back from the hospital, and a line of women waiting.

407

Messages We Ignore • Purim • Ep. 13

Feb 28, 2018

10:30

Rashi on the very first pasuk of the Megillah stops at one small word, "he," and says Achashveirosh stayed the same from beginning to end. Why make a point of that, and why single out Achashveirosh when Chazal rarely do this? A comment that sounds like a note about a king turns into a message for Purim, with the help of the Rambam's two things that move a person to change. Purim asks a quiet question about the signals in our own lives.

408

Our Reality Vs. The Absolute Truth • Parshas Ki Sisa • Ep. 14

Mar 1, 2018

13:13

Everyone asked the young chassan the same thing: how will you learn all day with no house and no support? His answer sounded like a plan with nothing in it. Years later, it looked very different. The story comes at the end of Parshas Ki Sisa, after Moshe asks to understand why the righteous suffer and Hashem shows him only His back. Why does the Gemara in Brachos tell us to bless the bad with the same full heart as the good, and how can anyone do that?

409

Work Hard, Rest Harder • Parshas Vayakhel & Pekudei • Ep. 15

Mar 8, 2018

12:08

Before Moshe asks for a single donation to the Mishkan, he first talks about Shabbos. The pasuk then says the work of the six days "will be done," as if by someone else. Why does Shabbos come first, why mention the six days at all when the mitzvah is to rest, and why that passive wording? Rashi and the Or HaChaim each give their own reading, and Rabbi Asaf Prisman adds another that speaks to anyone working long hours. A factory owner in Russia and the Chofetz Chaim give it a sharp ending.

410

The Idea Behind Matzah • Pesach • Ep. 16

Mar 30, 2018

8:51

Matzah says two opposite things at the Seder. At the start of the Haggadah we lift it and call it the bread of the poor man in Mitzrayim, and later we lift it again and it means freedom. How can the same piece of matzah stand for poverty and for freedom? The Maharal faces the contradiction head on, and his answer begins with a surprising definition of a slave. It leaves a question to ask yourself about everything you own, before you sit down at the Seder.

411

Lashon Hara Hurts Your Skin • Parshas Metzora • Ep. 17

Apr 12, 2018

9:54

It is easy to tell yourself that what you said about someone was true, and that you had a good reason. Parshas Metzora gives lashon hara a very specific punishment: tzaraas on the skin. Why that, when Hashem's punishments match the sin? Rav Chaim Shmulevitz points to the Gemara that counts a metzora among those considered as if dead, and the reason says something about connection between Jews. A second idea explains why it appears as a spot. Rabbi Asaf Prisman ends with the Chofetz Chaim in old age, a doctor's advice, and his surprising reaction.

412

Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize • Parshas Emor • Ep. 18

Apr 26, 2018

13:06

On a flight from Toronto to Israel, an elderly woman handed Rabbi Asaf Prisman a small card with three cartoon panels, and it stayed with him. In Parshas Emor, why is the Korban Omer named after a measurement, when the Mincha offering has the exact same volume and isn't called that? And why does the counting to Shavuos begin with it? The Be'er Yosef and a Gemara in Kiddushin turn the question toward how we think about our work and our income.

413

Beyond the Cave • Sefiras Haomer • Ep. 19

May 2, 2018

11:36

Why did Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai bring his son Elazar into the cave when the Romans were only after him? And why do people cut a three-year-old's hair at his kever on Lag BaOmer? A Gemara in Makkos says a mother should have a child like Rabbi Shimon or else not give birth at all, and Rashi softens it into a tefillah. Rabbi Asaf Prisman offers a thought of his own that ties the cave, the haircut and that sentence together, and what it asks of parents who work hard for their children's chinuch.

414

Bitachon in Hashem • Parshas Behar • Ep. 20

May 10, 2018

13:53

Shemitah comes with a promise that seems to reward the doubters. Hashem says "if you ask what we will eat in the seventh year, I will give three times the crop in the sixth." So do only the people who worry get the bigger harvest, and doesn't Hashem already promise we will be satisfied? The Sforno and Rashi read the promise in a way that asks each of us where our own trust stands. Rabbi Asaf Prisman closes with a king's sick son and three brothers who each think they saved him.

415

The Nazir's Mixed Messages • Parshas Naso • Ep. 21

May 24, 2018

12:00

Is the nazir holy or a sinner? In Parshas Naso the Torah calls him holy, and a few pesukim later he must bring a chatas, and Rabbi Elazar HaKappar says the sin is that he denied himself wine. Yet the Ramban in Kedoshim praises the person who holds back from physical pleasure, with no mention of any sin. How can both be true? Rabbi Asaf Prisman finds a way through, and a young man comes back from a date to tell his Rabbi what impressed him most about her.

416

Trusting Hashem • Parshas Behaaloscha • Ep. 22

May 31, 2018

9:17

Every parent wonders when a child is ready to leave the shelter. Parshas Behaaloscha ends with Bnei Yisrael leaving Har Sinai like a child running from school, complaining about the man and demanding meat. Why would the generation that saw all those miracles act so badly? And if their reasons were sincere, why was the punishment so heavy? A reading of their motives answers it, and it speaks to how we choose schools, friends and timing for our children. A short mashal about a young tree and a strong wind makes the point.

417

Positive Attitude • Parshas Shelach • Ep. 23

Jun 7, 2018

14:54

At a seudas hoda'ah, a young man who was given no chance of surviving stands up and thanks one doctor at the table for something he heard from his hospital bed six years earlier. Then the doctor stands up to answer him. It is the closing story for Parshas Shelach. The Torah uses three different words for the spying: Vayaturu, Vayachperu and Vayiraglu. Why three, and why does the Kli Yakar say each one fits a different mindset? The same land and the same mission led to very different outcomes, depending on how the people walked in.

418

Korach: True Oved Hashem • Parshas Korach • Ep. 24

Jun 14, 2018

12:32

Korach's two hundred and fifty men were warned that the earth would swallow the rebels, and they went ahead anyway. Rashi asks whether they were fools and answers that they "sinned with their souls," which sounds like it answers nothing. The Netziv notices that the two groups are mentioned separately and die differently, one by fire and one by the earth. What does that tell us about their motives? Rabbi Asaf Prisman adds a mashal of a king, a loyal servant and an offer too good to refuse.

419

True Reasoning of Mitzvos • Parshas Chukas • Ep. 25

Jun 21, 2018

13:08

Parshas Chukas calls the Parah Adumah "Chukas HaTorah," the law of the Torah, when we would expect the law of the Parah. Shlomo HaMelech worked to understand its reasons and gave up, yet a Gemara in Sanhedrin says it was knowing the reasons that led him to sin. Why would his admission be that he thought he understood, rather than that he trusted himself too much? And why does the Gemara silence someone who prays "have mercy on us as You do on the mother bird"? Food and its taste hold the thread.

420

Using the Opportunities We Have • Parshas Balak • Ep. 26

Jun 28, 2018

12:21

Bilaam stands on the road with his donkey, and the donkey tells him he needs a sword to kill even her, so how will he destroy a nation with his mouth? The Midrash Tanchuma says he had no answer. Why not? And why would Balak ask for a curse instead of just blessing Moav? The Navi in Michah, recalling the places Bnei Yisrael passed, holds a hint. Rabbi Asaf Prisman ties the donkey, the curse and one small mitzvah into a message for anyone who can't always do what they planned.

421

Partnering with Hashem • Parshas Pinchas • Ep. 27

Jul 5, 2018

15:06

If Hashem loves the poor, why doesn't He take care of them Himself? Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva exactly that, and the answer in Bava Basra connects to Pinchas, whom Rashi says was rewarded because he acted for Hashem when Hashem was angry. Rav Moshe Feinstein finds a principle there that reaches tzedakah, learning Torah and Milah. Rabbi Asaf Prisman ends with a young avreich, a growing family and a registered letter from a court that arrived at an odd time.

422

In the Eyes of Hashem and Man • Parshas Matos • Ep. 28

Jul 12, 2018

14:29

Gad and Reuven come to Moshe and recite a list of cities, and Moshe says nothing. They add that the land is green and their herds are large, and he is still silent. Only when they spell out their request does he answer. Why the hinting, and why did Moshe care how it looked even though they meant well? In Parshas Matos, being right in Hashem's eyes comes with a second requirement. Rabbi Asaf Prisman ends with a hall booked for a wedding, friends who stopped giving, and a surprise.

423

Self Worth • Parshas Vaeschanan • Ep. 30

Jul 26, 2018

15:20

Chazal pair the first five commandments with the second five: Anochi with "do not murder," and the second with "do not commit adultery." The pairs make sense until you reach honoring parents and "do not covet." What could those two possibly share? In Parshas Vaeschanan, Rabbi Asaf Prisman offers an answer that touches how we see ourselves, and how that shapes what we want from others. A story about a happy shoemaker and a king who walks the streets in disguise is a good one for the Shabbos table.

424

100 Blessings a Day • Parshas Eikev • Ep. 31

Aug 2, 2018

12:56

What is Hashem really asking of us, and why did Chazal read the word "mah" as "me'ah," a hundred? What does reciting a hundred blessings a day have to do with fear of Hashem, and why a hundred, not eighty or a hundred and twenty? Rabbi Asaf Prisman brings a question of the Divrei Yoel on a Gemara in Menachos. Then come a stitched-up foot after a family trip to the Kinneret and a watch that fell in the street, two small moments that carry the whole idea.

425

Achas Sha'alti Me'is Hashem • Elul • Ep. 32

Aug 11, 2018

16:40

Dovid HaMelech was chased by Shaul, rebelled against by Avshalom, and carried a whole nation on his mind, yet in the Elul Tehillim he says he asks Hashem for "one thing," and then repeats himself in the same breath. Why the repetition, and why only one request? The Chida finds the answer hiding in a single word, tied to a Gemara in Berachos about three gifts. Along the way, a family flees Iran in 1979 with a smuggler who seems cruel beyond reason. It is a question about what we are asking for as Rosh Hashanah approaches.

426

Impact of Our Actions • Parshas Shoftim • Ep. 33

Aug 16, 2018

11:26

Most of us ask whether what we're doing is permitted. Few of us ask what the person watching will take from it. In Parshas Shoftim, the officers tell a frightened soldier to go home before the battle, and the reason has nothing to do with his own safety. Why should one man's fear matter that much, and what does it say about our own responsibility for the people around us? A boy walks into a yeshiva lunchroom, and one small moment with a cup of coffee decides his whole future.

427

Chessed and boundaries • Parshas Ki Seitzei • Ep. 34

Aug 23, 2018

12:50

Amon and Moav could not join Klal Yisrael for ten generations, and the Torah gives two reasons. One is that they hired Bilam to curse us. The other is that they did not meet us with bread and water. Those two do not seem to weigh the same. The Or HaChaim asks exactly that, and the Ramban looks back to Lot and what Avraham had done for him. A second answer looks at the one midah Lot was known for, and what the Torah expected of his descendants because of it.

428

The 3 Big Presents From Hashem • Parshas Ki Savo • Ep. 35

Aug 30, 2018

14:41

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says in Berachos that Hashem gave Yisrael three gifts, and every one of them comes only through hardship. Which three, and what does that say about the hard stretches in our own lives? In Elul, Rabbi Asaf Prisman reads Dovid HaMelech's "one thing I ask" through the Chida, and connects it to why Ki Savo punishes us for serving without simcha. A mother, three children and a smuggler with a gun at the Iranian border make the point vivid.

429

The Two Hats of Rosh Hashanah • Rosh Hashana • Ep. 36

Sep 9, 2018

19:03

Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment, and yet there is almost no vidui and hardly a mention of sin in the davening. The same day is also when we crown Hashem as King, and the Vilna Gaon would jump for joy. Why put two such different themes on one day, and why would a judgment day leave out asking forgiveness? Rabbi Asaf Prisman answers both, then takes a reader's questions about Avraham Avinu and mercy. A family whose children could not find shidduchim, and a noisy construction job upstairs, bring it down to what Hashem is looking for from us.

430

Sticking to Our Letter • Parshas Vayelech • Ep. 37

Sep 13, 2018

14:57

Every Friday night, a man in prison hears name after name called out at mail time, and his own is called again and again. A prisoner next to him is furious. What does Rabbi Asaf Prisman take from that scene for the days before Yom Kippur? Parshas Vayelech starts with a mitzvah that seems redundant: even a man who inherits his father's sefer Torah must write his own. Why, and what does the Ksav Sofer say about doing mitzvos out of habit? It raises a question for anyone who simply follows the way they were raised.

431

Peeling Back the Layers • Yom Kippur • Ep. 38

Sep 18, 2018

15:09

Kol Nidre is an annulment of vows, something that could have been said on any day of the year, yet Chazal placed it at the very start of Yom Kippur. Why there? The Torah says Lot moved to Sodom for his crops, while Rashi gives a very different reason, and the gap between the two leads straight back to Kol Nidre. Rav Elchanan Wasserman travels to America to raise money for his yeshiva and visits a childhood friend about a loose button on his suit. What was he really doing there?

432

Uniqueness of Sukkos • Sukkos • Ep. 39

Sep 23, 2018

11:55

Sukkos is the only Yom Tov the davening calls "the time of our happiness." Every Yom Tov is supposed to bring simchah, so what makes this one different? Rav Yitzchak Hutner points to the way Sukkos sits in two groups at once, and Rav Emanuel Bernstein connects it to the number of korbanos on Sukkos. A tzaddik arrives in town, and a man comes to mock him. He tells a parable about a king, a precious gold watch and the one he trusted to guard it. The watch matters more than anyone in the room realizes.

433

Bent but Not Broken • Sukkos • Ep. 40

Sep 24, 2018

5:33

A king leaves for a few weeks and hands his most precious possession, a delicate gold pocket watch, to the servant he trusts most. Every day the servant winds it, and every day he can't help playing with the jewels. Then comes one moment, and a tzaddik in a crowded town turns pale. Among the listeners is a man who came only to mock. The parable is about Yom Kippur, and a Midrash about the lulav shows why it leads straight into Sukkos and a very particular kind of happiness.

434

Win, Win when doing Ratzon Hashem • Parshas Bereishis • Ep. 41

Oct 4, 2018

13:50

Anyone who has done the right thing and watched it cost him has asked this question. Hevel brought the best of his flock and was killed. Kayin brought simple fruit and went on to build a family. Where is the justice in that? The Chasam Sofer asks exactly this on the first story after Bereishis, and the question seems to ignore the whole point of this world. Rabbi Asaf Prisman follows it to a simple rule about doing Hashem's will. A father drags his neighbor to court in Israel, and the judge recognizes him.

435

The Truly Wealthy Person • Parshas Vayakhel • Ep. 66

Feb 28, 2019

12:16

Why would Moshe open a fundraising appeal for the Mishkan by talking about Shabbos? And why does he say that for six days work "may be done," in the passive, as if it gets done by itself? Rav Shlomo Ganzfried, the author of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, reads the wording as a lesson about our income, and about what it means to be rich. The Chofetz Chaim makes it vivid with a mashal of a bucket of water and a man working very hard to fill it.

436

Would You Pass the Boring Test? • Parshas Lech Lecha • Ep. 456

Oct 22, 2026

12:59

Avraham walked out of Nimrod's blazing furnace alive, so why does the Torah never tell the story? Why is one of the biggest miracles of his life hidden inside a place name, while a plain command to pack up and move gets open, detailed pesukim? Rabbi Asaf Prisman brings Rav Frand and the Sam Derech on Avraham's ten tests, and tells the story of a wounded soldier in Lebanon whose friends could not understand why he kept rolling onto his side. A Lech Lecha episode about what the Torah really counts, and where in your own week it may be hiding.

437

Connecting to Tisha B'Av A Spiritual Guide • Tisha B'Av • Ep. 29

Jul 21, 2018

7:03

Nobody alive today misses the slaughtering of animals and the blood on the Mizbeach, so how are we meant to mourn the Beis HaMikdash on Tisha B'Av? And why do people read stories of Jewish suffering from other centuries when the day is about the Churban? The Kinos themselves go beyond the destruction, to the Crusades and later. A mashal about an eighteen-year-old who walks out of his parents' house after an argument sets the picture. From there it becomes clear what we actually lost, and how to connect to it.

438

The Path to Perfection in Middos • Parshas Noach • Ep. 42

Oct 11, 2018

13:15

The prophet Yeshayahu calls the flood "the waters of Noach," as if Noach himself bore some blame for it. The Sforno says Noach failed, on some level, to teach his generation to know Hashem. What could that mean for a man the Torah calls righteous? Then comes a contradiction in Chazal: "derech eretz comes before Torah," yet we daven that Torah should improve our character. Which comes first, and what happens when a person learns without the basic middos in place? It sheds light on what Torah can and cannot do for us.

439

Impact of Society • Parshas Noach • Ep. 43

Oct 12, 2018

17:02

Rabbi Yochanan says that if Noach had lived in the generation of Avraham, he would not have counted for anything. Yet the Torah calls him a tzaddik. How can a man called righteous be dismissed like that, and how can Reish Lakish read the same words as praise? The Gemara in Sanhedrin records the argument, and the Zichron Meir finds a surprising point the two sides share. It speaks to anyone who works to hold their ground in a difficult crowd. A merchant of precious stones gets one chance, with only twenty seconds to decide.

440

Living in Confusion • Parshas Lech Lecha • Ep. 44

Oct 18, 2018

14:27

Noach already knew Torah, and so did Adam. So why does Chazal date the era of Torah to the day Avraham brought the idol worshippers of Charan back to Hashem? The Ra'avad asks why Avraham alone gets the credit, when so many tzaddikim before him spoke out against idolatry. His answer sounds almost like a riddle about hidden idols and public ones. It leads into how easily we wrap a wrong choice in the look of a mitzvah. A chassid asks his rebbe for a blessing to lead the davening in another shul, and the rebbe's reaction tells the story.

441

The Potential Impact of a Mitzvah • Parshas Vayera • Ep. 45

Oct 25, 2018

14:23

The last train has already left, and a student who has just been told to leave the yeshiva that night has nowhere to sleep. The Chofetz Chaim's reaction changes everything. In Vayera, Avraham sits at his tent in pain three days after his bris, worried that no guests are coming. Why would he be upset that nobody needs help? And what good is it that Hashem sends angels dressed as travelers, when angels are not real guests? Rav Shlomo Heiman answers both by looking at what Avraham thought his day was for.

442

Feasting on Food for Thought • Parshas Chayei Sarah • Ep. 46

Oct 31, 2018

9:47

Anyone who keeps a pet, or a few fish in a tank, has a halacha waiting at the table: a person may not eat before feeding his animals. So how did Rivka give Eliezer water before she gave his camels, when the Avos kept the whole Torah? The Gemara in Berachos learns the rule from the pasuk in Shema, and the Sefer Chasidim raises exactly this difficulty. Several answers follow, and some of them change how we should treat the animals in our care.

443

Importance of Acquiring a Friend • Parshas Chayei Sarah • Ep. 47

Nov 1, 2018

11:12

The word "ulai" appears twice in the story of Eliezer and Rivka, and the second time it is spelled so it can be read "elai," me. Rashi, quoting the Midrash, says what Eliezer may have been thinking, and Avraham's answer sounds surprisingly harsh toward a servant who has been so loyal. What was Avraham really telling him? And why does the Torah only hint at it the second time around? Rabbi Asaf Prisman ties it to the curse of Cham and how a man can work his way out of what he inherited.

444

Trusting the Journey • Parshas Chayei Sarah • Ep. 48

Nov 2, 2018

7:02

It is Motzei Pesach in Bnei Brak, and the bus stops are packed with families waiting to get back to Yerushalayim. An hour passes, then another half hour. When a bus finally pulls in, the sign says Rehovot. The passengers beg the driver, and what he does next, and what he tells one passenger on the road, is the story. Sarah Imeinu lived through captivity and years without children and still stayed calm. The Chovos HaLevavos explains how a person can live with that same steadiness.

445

Is There Really Free Will? • Parshas Toldos • Ep. 49

Nov 7, 2018

14:26

According to Rashi, while Rivka was still pregnant, Esav pushed to get out whenever she passed a house of idol worship. Does that mean his path was decided before he was born, and how can that fit with free will? The Rambam seems to contradict himself on whether our nature shapes us. Why does the Parsha bring in Rebbi and Antoninus, and why did Yitzchak want to bless Esav? Rabbi Asaf Prisman separates two things we often blur together, and our own anger, energy and temperament are part of the question.

446

Being honest with oneself • Parshas Vayetzei • Ep. 50

Nov 15, 2018

14:28

Anyone who says "I'm too busy" might wonder what a free hour would reveal. Yaakov spent twenty-two years away from his parents, yet for most of that time he was doing exactly what they had told him to do. So why does the Gemara in Megillah count all of it against him, and why does Hashem punish him through Yosef? Rav Moshe Feinstein comes at it through a different question, about why his parents sent him to find a wife only after Esav threatened him. A man at an esrog stand makes the point in one line.

447

How to Earn Miracles Above Nature • Parshas Vayetzei • Ep. 51

Nov 16, 2018

11:23

Rav Shlomo Kluger says Hashem prefers not to do miracles that go against nature. So why does Chanukah, of all the miracles in our history, get its own Yom Tov and its own bracha? The splitting of the sea does not. Along the way, Leah seems to resent Rachel even though Rachel saved her from humiliation by sharing the secret signs. How could she? And what links all this to Yosef HaTzaddik? One idea ties these questions together.

448

The Power of Prayer • Parshas Vayishlach • Ep. 52

Nov 22, 2018

17:38

When Yaakov davens before meeting Esav, he asks Hashem to save him "from my brother, from Esav." Why say both, when the Torah never wastes a word? The Beis HaLevi finds two separate prayers hiding in that phrase, and shows why they come in that order. It points to what a parent should worry about most. A father in a hospital far from home, with his only daughter fading, makes a promise to Hashem in an empty shul. What became of that promise is the story.

449

Unveiling the Essence of Chanukah • Chanukah • Ep. 53

Nov 29, 2018

12:09

A crowded barrack in the Holocaust, a shoelace dipped in black shoe polish, and a rebbe about to light the Chanukah candle while everyone holds their breath. After two blessings, he pauses and scans the room before saying the third. Why? Chanukah has its own question: the Gemara describes the miracle of the oil, while the Rambam opens with the war and mentions the oil last. Why the difference, and why do Al HaNissim and Birkas Hamazon speak almost only about the war? One answer reframes what the fight was really about.

450

Uprooting the Greek Influence • Chanukah • Ep. 54

Dec 6, 2018

12:39

Yosef asks the wine steward to remember him, and Chazal say that is why he spent two more years in jail. Why? Hashem wants us to make some effort, and asking once seems like the least a person can do. What did Yosef do wrong, and why is Parshas Miketz always read on Chanukah? The Midrash Rabbah and the Beis HaLevi shed light on both, and on the Greek way of looking at the world. A rabbi who never flies first class ends up in one, and one accidental button changes everything.

451

having complete self control • Parshas Vayigash • Ep. 55

Dec 14, 2018

14:46

Why did Yosef wait so long to reveal himself, and what does the pasuk mean when it says he could not restrain himself "in the presence of all who stood before him"? The Kli Yakar sees a careful plan behind every step of the delay. That opens the real question for us: what does it take to stop before acting on impulse? A gadol caught in a moment where every instinct says to react gives a picture of that control when nobody is watching. Think of it the next time your own temper rises.

452

working on the negative • Parshas Vayechi • Ep. 56

Dec 20, 2018

17:13

Yaakov blesses his sons from his deathbed, yet Reuven loses the kingship and the Kehunah, and the pasuk blames his rushing "like water" more than the act itself. Why? And if Reuven did teshuva, why wasn't that enough? Rav Eliyahu Lopian in Lev Eliyahu points to something that teshuva on a sin may leave untouched. A family, a hidden envelope of money and a house turned upside down bring it home. Anyone who has said sorry for the same thing twice will recognize the problem.

453

Living With Meaning • Parshas Shemos • Ep. 57

Dec 26, 2018

13:55

Pharaoh's answer to Moshe's first request was to keep the same quota but make the Jews find their own straw. Why not simply double the quota? The Rambam's ruling on what a master may never give a Jewish slave holds the key. A prisoner in a Soviet labor camp, ten years into his sentence, makes a discovery that hits him harder than the years themselves. Along the way, the Midrash about Moshe and the word "az" shows what he saw too narrowly. For anyone who has asked what the point of all this effort is, the question cuts close.

454

How Big of a Person R U • Parshas Vaera • Ep. 58

Jan 2, 2019

13:38

We are told both to love our fellow Jew like ourselves and to look after our own life first. How do those fit together? Rav Shimon Shkop answers by asking what "myself" really means. Meanwhile, the pasuk says "vayigdal" about Moshe twice, and the Ramban uses that repetition to explain why Hashem chose him to take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. A woman asks Rav Pam for a bracha for her daughter in a difficult labor, and what he does that night is a lesson in greatness.

455

Respect and Being Respected • Parshas Bo • Ep. 59

Jan 9, 2019

12:51

A man walks into a job interview in Canada with a half-grown beard during the weeks between Pesach and Shavuos, and he has a decision to make before he gets there. It connects to a question on Parshas Bo. When the Jews left Mitzrayim with silver and gold, why did Hashem arrange that the Egyptians would favor them, when fear would have gotten the same result? The Netziv, with a pasuk in Devarim, explains why the respect of the nations matters, and why it still calls for a clear line between us and them.

456

How Much Do We Really Believe? • Parshas Beshalach • Ep. 60

Jan 16, 2019

13:06

The Torah describes the Jews crossing the Yam Suf twice, a few pesukim apart. The first time, they enter "in the sea on dry land". The second time, "on dry land in the sea". Even the word for wall is spelled differently. Why the repetition, the flipped order and the missing letter? The Vilna Gaon in Kol Eliyahu has one answer for all three, and it points to a question about where our trust really sits. A man worried about parnassah in Eretz Yisrael, who could not read Hebrew, lives it out years later.

457

The Importance of Achdus • Parshas Yisro • Ep. 61

Jan 24, 2019

18:52

Rashi notes a strange bit of math in Bechukosai: five will chase a hundred, but a hundred will chase ten thousand, not two thousand. Why does the number jump instead of growing evenly? And why does Rashi say Bnei Yisrael camped at Har Sinai "as one person with one heart," when the pasuk already uses a singular verb? Rav Chaim Shmulevitz explains what happens to our strength when we stand together, and why Purim carries something Matan Torah did not. Every relationship in a home, a shul or a community is part of the picture.

458

Continuous Growth • Parshas Mishpatim • Ep. 62

Jan 31, 2019

12:30

A Gemara in Shabbos says each Jew received two crowns when they answered "naaseh venishma". One for "we will do" makes sense. But what is so special about "we will listen and learn", when anyone must learn in order to do? And if the Midrash says each person heard the Ten Commandments at their own level, why did their souls leave them? The answers center on what a Jew's level actually is. Then the Chofetz Chaim's granddaughter comes to him with a challenge about the wider world, and his reply is worth hearing twice.

459

Optical Illusion of Giving • Parshas Terumah • Ep. 63

Feb 6, 2019

10:58

In Parshas Terumah, Hashem tells Bnei Yisrael to "take" an offering for Him, though the word should have been "bring". And later the Nesi'im, who gave generously, have a letter missing from their name. What did they do wrong? A Gemara in Bava Basra about Rabbi Akiva and a skeptic who asks why Hashem doesn't just feed the poor himself gives the key. A father-in-law who supports his son-in-law's learning, while his wife asks how long it will go on, turns the question of who gives to whom upside down.

460

The Best Way to Live Life • Parshas Tetzaveh • Ep. 64

Feb 13, 2019

11:56

Why is Moshe's name missing from Parshas Tetzaveh, when Bnei Yisrael did teshuva and his request to be erased should no longer have stood? And why this parsha of all of them? A Gemara in Zevachim about Moshe at the burning bush, and another in Shabbos about suspecting others, lead to two ways of serving Hashem. Then the Vilna Gaon sends a messenger to find an esrog, and the only beautiful one in town belongs to a merchant who will sell it on one strange condition. The messenger has no idea how the Gaon will react.

461

Always for the Best • Parshas Ki Sisa • Ep. 65

Feb 20, 2019

14:28

When something painful happens, Chazal still tell us to bless Hashem for the bad as we do for the good, and a Gemara in Berachos says to do it with simcha. How can anyone be happy while saying Dayan HaEmes? And in Ki Sisa, what did Hashem actually answer when Moshe asked why the righteous suffer, with the words "you will see My back"? Rashi's wording on that simcha opens the door. Rav Shach once told what everyone asked him as a young chassan with no house promised, and how his answer looked years later.

462

A true Oved Hashem • Parshas Pekudei • Ep. 67

Mar 6, 2019

12:03

The Beis HaLevi asks why the Torah keeps repeating "as Hashem commanded" in the building of the Mishkan, and connects it to two more puzzles. How did the generation that saw the sea split fall into the golden calf? And why was the Akeidah a test for Avraham at all, when Hashem himself gave the command? One answer covers all three. A king's instruction to his ambassador, just one small thing not to do, reveals what is at stake in being an eved Hashem.

463

The Power Behind • Purim • Ep. 68

Mar 13, 2019

4:25

Two old friends, one now running an entire city, and one who moves there on his friend's invitation expecting a job in no time. Offer after offer never comes, no matter what he changes: the suit, the tie, the resume. Why does nothing work? For anyone who thinks a little more effort will fix income or any other stuck area of life, this Purim mashal asks what really moves things. It ends on what to do with Purim itself, and what we really want from the drinking.

464

Exploring the Essence of Purim • Purim • Ep. 69

Mar 19, 2019

13:57

The Megillah has a horse, a tree and a feast, so why did Chazal name the holiday after Haman's lottery? Why is Hashem's name missing from the whole Megillah? And if the Jews saw the sea split, why does the Gemara say they re-accepted the Torah out of love only because of the miracles of Purim? One idea from Amalek ties these together, and with it the reasons for costumes and for reading the Megillah twice. A story about a crowded bus stop in Bnei Brak, a long wait and a bus driver's decision gives the idea a very ordinary face.

465

Between pure & impure • Parshas Shemini • Ep. 70

Mar 28, 2019

11:34

The last pasuk of Shemini says the whole parsha was given to distinguish between the pure and the impure. But Rashi asks: is that really needed to tell a donkey from a cow? He reads it as pointing to something much finer, a difference as small as a hair's breadth. The Chofetz Chaim's preface to the Mishnah Berurah applies it to Shabbos and speech. A man opens his door to a rosh yeshiva's son collecting for the yeshiva, and asks what the second seder is worth to his father. The reply makes that hair's breadth very real.

466

How much of an 'אדם' are you • Parshas Tazria • Ep. 71

Apr 3, 2019

12:19

Right before Pesach, near Kiev, a Jew stands falsely accused in a courtroom. Days earlier the town's rav received a letter whose contents nobody knew, and now a hostile question about a Gemara is thrown at him, with every eye in the room on him. How does he answer? The story sits beside a question from the Alshich on Parshas Tazria. Why does the pasuk call someone with tzaraas "Adam," the highest name for a person, when his sin is lashon hara? Rav Shlomo Ganzfried, in his Apiryon, finds the key in what that one word says about us.

467

Death and life in the hands of the tongue • Parshas Metzora • Ep. 72

Apr 9, 2019

12:26

We are commanded to remember what Miriam said about Moshe, yet we also may not speak badly about another Jew. Isn't remembering it a kind of lashon hara on her? And how can it be to her merit that the whole camp waited for her, when it highlights her sin? The Rambam in Hilchos Tumas Tzaraas describes exactly what she said and what she meant by it, and Rav Zev Leff explains why this moment in the Torah is the sharpest lesson in how careful we must be with our words. At a seudah, the Chofetz Chaim is pressed by a talmid for a promise, and he asks for one in return.

468

A Yid's View of a Negative Experience • Pesach • Ep. 73

Apr 18, 2019

11:42

Rabban Gamliel lists the three things we must mention at the Seder: Pesach, Matzah, Maror. Maror comes last, though the bitterness of Mitzrayim came first. Why that order? Building on the Malbim, the answer touches how a Yid is meant to view a hard experience. A story from a dentist's waiting room, where something goes wrong with someone's father, closes it. Anyone coming to the Seder with something bitter of their own will hear it differently.

469

Getting Rid of the Mitzri in Us • Pesach • Ep. 74

Apr 24, 2019

11:46

After ten plagues, Hashem says the Egyptians will "know that I am Hashem" only when the sea splits. What did they not know until then? And what did Pharaoh mean by "Who is Hashem?" The Ramban's distinction between Hashem's names answers both, and explains why the redemption came in two stages. It also asks how much of Mitzrayim we still carry with us. A man who lost everything in someone else's failed investment puts the idea into a real life.

470

Delving into the Concept of Sefiras HaOmer • Sefiras Haomer • Ep. 75

May 2, 2019

12:00

Anyone counting toward something they long for counts down. So why do we count up the 49 days from Pesach to Shavuos? And if Torah is the point of leaving Mitzrayim, why not give it the moment we left? The Chinuch finds what Pesach is really for in a pasuk in Shemos, and Rav Pincus adds what these days are meant to build in us. A friend's careless comment to a couple without children for twenty years, and a wager that came with it, ends at the door of Rav Chaim Kanievsky.

471

Emor & Sefiras HaOmer Insights • Parshas Emor • Ep. 76

May 17, 2019

13:04

The Korban HaOmer is named after a measure, an omer, even though the same volume is used in the Mincha offering and called a tenth of an eifah there. Why did the Torah choose that name here? And why does the counting toward Shavuos start from this offering? Rav Yosef Salant in Be'er Yosef finds one earlier use of the word that answers both. On a flight, an elderly woman hands Rabbi Asaf Prisman a small card with three cartoon pictures, and each one says something about being busy.

472

The real purpose of life • Parshas Bechukosai • Ep. 77

May 30, 2019

8:15

"Im bechukosai teilechu," Hashem says, and Rashi explains it cannot mean keeping the mitzvos, since that comes next. It means toiling in Torah. But chukim are laws we cannot understand, so what is hard to understand about learning, and why "walk"? And how can the prayer at a siyum say that others toil without reward, when every worker is paid? The word "amal" holds the key. A Vilna Gaon mashal of a king, a river and buckets with small holes reveals who understood it.

473

Embracing 'Naase Venishma' • Shavuos • Ep. 78

Jun 6, 2019

8:48

For years, the Gemara about two crowns for "naaseh" and "nishma" sounds like praise for doing before understanding. But the Gemara words it as: first they said naaseh, then nishma. What does that order create? A thought in the introduction to one of the Beis HaLevi's seforim gives the order a new meaning, and the Nefesh HaChaim adds why effort itself binds us to Torah. A neighbor who waters a seed for years with nothing to show for it brings the idea home just before Shavuos.

474

Enjoying life • Parshas Naso • Ep. 79

Jun 13, 2019

7:07

The Torah calls a nazir holy, and in the same breath says he must bring a sin offering. Rashi brings Rabbi Elazar HaKappar: his sin was denying himself wine. So is he holy or guilty? One answer settles it, but then the Ramban on "kedoshim tihiyu" seems to praise exactly this kind of abstaining, and the contradiction returns. At a eulogy for Rav Steinman, one speaker describes him in a way the next speaker politely corrects, and the correction holds the real answer.

475

Eating kugel too early • Parshas Behaaloscha • Ep. 80

Jun 21, 2019

7:59

The Torah says Moshe was humble "me'od," exceedingly, when "humble" alone would have said it. Why the extra word? And why does the Rambam tell us to walk the middle path in every trait, except pride, where he says to go to the extreme? Rabbi Asaf Prisman brings a Chofetz Chaim on one pleasure in this world that is unlike all the others. A family hoping to welcome a great Rabbi in Russia, a surprise arrival, and a simple question about Shabbos food make the point.

476

The ability to influence • Parshas Korach • Ep. 81

Jun 27, 2019

15:03

Chazal say Korach's wife pushed him into the rebellion against Moshe, and On ben Peles's wife kept him out of it. A Gemara in Sanhedrin and a Midrash on Moshe's words to Beis Yaakov point the same way. Why does a woman's influence reach so deep, and what is it about the heart that gets past the mind? The question reaches how we build a family, and why the Torah warns us not to follow our hearts. A recent wedding in Eretz Yisrael closes it, where a quiet influence showed itself.

477

Arguing the real way • Parshas Korach • Ep. 82

Jul 4, 2019

6:51

Pirkei Avos calls the argument of Korach "Korach and his followers," yet the argument was with Moshe. Why name the wrong side? The Mishna also says an argument for the sake of heaven will "endure," and one that isn't will not. What does it mean for an argument to last, and what makes one argument for heaven at all? Anyone who has argued with someone who only wanted to be heard will recognize the problem. This is a look at what we are really after whenever we disagree, and the question to ask ourselves in the middle of one.

478

Nature one big optical Illusion • Parshas Chukas • Ep. 83

Jul 11, 2019

9:48

A worried phone call after an ultrasound, and a drive to Rav Kanievsky for a bracha. That story closes a look at Moshe striking the rock in Chukas. Why is the punishment, missing Eretz Yisrael, so severe for hitting instead of speaking, when water from a rock is a Kiddush Hashem either way? And why was Moshe told to strike the rock back in Beshalach? Rav Shimshon Pinkus explains the difference, and why the world we call "nature" sits at the heart of it.

479

Objectively realizing Hashem's Will • Parshas Balak • Ep. 84

Jul 18, 2019

8:43

Most of us have pushed a "no" until it sounded like a "yes." Bilaam did exactly that. Yet in Parshas Balak he seems to follow Hashem's instructions at every step, so why do Chazal and Rashi read every line of his story in the worst light? The Mishna in Pirkei Avos sets him against Avraham, and Rashi on the Akeidah shows what Avraham heard when Hashem's words could be taken two ways. A son begging his father to let him stay out late is a picture of how easily we cloud what Hashem wants from us.

480

Finding your path to Hashem • Parshas Pinchas • Ep. 85

Jul 25, 2019

7:58

Rashi says Hashem answered Yitzchak's prayer and not Rivka's, because he was a tzaddik son of a tzaddik and she was a tzaddekes from a wicked home. That seems backwards, since rising above a bad home should count for more. The same question sits under the opening of Parshas Pinchas, which repeats that Pinchas was the grandson of Aharon, a man of peace, right after Pinchas did something that looked like the opposite of peace. What does it mean to find your own way to Hashem inside the home you grew up in? A grade eight math teacher, always calm, shows it.

481

The Importance of Being Part of a Community • Nine Days • Ep. 86

Aug 1, 2019

12:07

The Torah forbids counting Jews head by head, and so Kohanim drew a lottery by counting fingers, and we count a minyan with the ten words of a pasuk. Everyone says Ayin Hara, but does that really explain it? Rabbeinu Bechaye gives a different reason, one that runs from Pesach Sheini to the Shunamis to how we daven for the sick. For the Nine Days, it asks what protects a person simply by standing inside a community. A man shaken by a plane crash he missed gets a surprising answer from the Chazon Ish.

482

Connecting to Tisha B'Av • Tisha B'Av • Ep. 87

Aug 8, 2019

11:59

Most of us walk into Tisha B'Av feeling far from a Beis HaMikdash we never saw. How do you mourn something you can't even picture? And why do the kinos of this one day weep over the Holocaust and so many other tragedies from across Jewish history? Rabbi Asaf Prisman sets out to close that distance. Along the way, a man whose temper is hurting his marriage, his children and his job begs a great rav for help, and the rav sends his gabbai into the next room with very strange orders. What the man admits afterward reaches into every frustrating moment of an ordinary day.

483

Understanding our goal in life • Parshas Vaeschanan • Ep. 88

Aug 15, 2019

8:17

If Yissachar and Zevulun share their income and their reward, why not simply split each day between learning and working? Why does the Torah take care to tell us how wealthy Avraham and Yaakov were? And if the Rambam says every Jew can reach the level of Moshe, how does a full day of hishtadlus fit with trusting that everything is from Hashem? A teaching Rabbi Asaf Prisman heard from Rav Boyer puts the hours we spend at work in a different light.

484

Educating our Kids • Parshas Eikev • Ep. 89

Aug 22, 2019

8:30

Most parents can get a child to daven or say Tehillim while they are standing right there. Is that what chinuch means? In Parshas Eikev the pasuk says to teach children to speak of Torah "when you sit, when you walk, when you lie down and when you rise." The Kesav Sofer asks why it spells all that out, and a distinction drawn by Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky fits his answer. A Rav and a Rebbetzin each ran a Tehillim group with the same prize, and the children's answers to one question were very different.

485

Preparing for Elul • Parshas Reeh • Ep. 90

Aug 29, 2019

10:04

After the command to destroy an Ir HaNidachas, the Torah adds a promise: Hashem "will give you rachamim and have mercy on you." Why does mercy appear in the middle of the harshest mitzvah in the Torah? And why does the pasuk say it twice? The Or HaChaim answers with how our own actions shape us, which Rav Chaim Shmulevitz applies to the weeks before Rosh Hashanah. On an Erev Shabbos in Bnei Brak, a man stopped beside an elderly woman at a large garbage bin, and what came of it may explain his success.

486

Of parents & managers • Parshas Shoftim • Ep. 91

Sep 6, 2019

11:27

When a body is found outside a city, the elders declare, "Our hands did not spill this blood." Who would suspect the most respected people in town? Rashi, citing the Gemara in Sotah, says what they are really clearing themselves of, and the question is how a visitor's meal and escort could lead to murder. The same Egla Arufa shows up in the wagons Yosef sent to Yaakov. Anyone who manages people or raises children will see a pattern in it, and a small habit at shul brings it into focus.

487

Judged like a Tzaddik • Parshas Ki Seitzei • Ep. 92

Sep 12, 2019

14:13

The Midrash, quoted by Rashi, says Lot was saved from Sodom because he kept silent when Avraham told everyone that Sarah was his sister. That seems backwards. Silence about his own uncle hardly sounds like much, while the Torah spends so much time on Lot's open home for guests. Why did the quiet act outweigh the visible one? It leads to why Amon and Moav were barred from the Jewish people, and to what Hashem expects from each of us in Elul. A friend's phone call about his mother's illness and a sum due the next day closes it.

488

How to Request from Hashem in the Right Way • Rosh Hashana • Ep. 93

Sep 19, 2019

10:14

A small boy stands on the bank of a huge river, waiting for a giant ship to stop for him. A man nearby tells him he's wasting his time. That picture comes at the end of a look at Chana's tefillah on Rosh Hashanah. Why did Eli, such a holy man, suspect her of being drunk? And the Zohar calls someone who asks for personal needs on Rosh Hashanah like a dog, so how could Chana ask for a child that day? An approach to the word "shikor" opens the way to asking for what we need before Selichos.

489

Teshuvah - Hard or Easy? • Parshas Nitzavim • Ep. 94

Sep 26, 2019

11:25

Teshuvah is called "very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart," and the Ramban reads that pasuk as being about teshuvah. Yet look around, and look at ourselves: it hardly feels easy. Why would the Torah testify that it is? A mashal of prisoners who dig their way out of a cell has the one who stays behind in trouble, and a question that has bothered Rabbi Asaf Prisman for years about why the comparison works. Rav Chaim Shmulevitz points to what really stands in our way before Rosh Hashanah.

490

Maximizing Rosh Hashanah Spiritually • Rosh Hashana • Ep. 95

Sep 29, 2019

10:56

Why does Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment, come before Yom Kippur, when forgiveness should come first? And if it opens the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, why do we avoid even mentioning sin that day? The Ramban brings a Mechilta about a king approaching a city, and the residents who ask for his laws first. It frames a dispute among the Rishonim over the first of the Ten Commandments. Then comes the voice that tells us, "you'll only sin again," and what Hashem asks us to bring to the shofar instead.

491

Missing the Mark in Mitzvos • Yom Kippur • Ep. 96

Oct 8, 2019

4:19

An Israeli basketball player on the way up, back pain, a team that wants him, and a question about how to keep Shabbos while playing. Then a broken bone and a friend who goes looking in a book. Before Yom Kippur, a Chofetz Chaim on the last pasuk of Koheles asks what a sin done in private leaves behind, and who will see it in the world to come. The story lands in a surprising place, and it asks something of us in teshuvah.

492

True Happiness • Sukkos • Ep. 97

Oct 13, 2019

12:34

Abaye was the head of the yeshiva, and when a student finished a masechta he made it a Yom Tov for the Chachamim. Rashi goes out of his way to tell us who Abaye was. Why? A similar puzzle sits in the Navi, where David dances before the Aron and his wife Michal calls him an empty-headed man. What was she afraid he was losing, and how could David answer, "It is before Hashem"? The Kedushas Tzion's answer also takes in two questions about Sukkos: why it is the happiest Yom Tov, and why we read Koheles.

493

Sukkos Partnering with Hakadosh Baruch Hu • Sukkos • Ep. 98

Oct 18, 2019

10:26

What makes the sukkah so special that the Gemara gives it the holiness of a korban, and a Midrash calls whoever sits in it a partner in creation? The four species already let us thank Hashem for the harvest, so why add a mitzvah that sends us out of our homes right when the work is done? The Meshech Chochma divides mitzvos into two kinds, and Rav Eliyahu Lopian explains why Har HaMoriah holds a holiness that Har Sinai did not. A friend standing at the funeral of a young man saw something at that moment that puts our daily choices in perspective.

494

Simchas Torah A Once-a-Year Spiritual Opportunity • Simchas Torah • Ep. 99

Oct 20, 2019

9:44

The Gemara says the days to call out to Hashem are the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, "when He is near." Yet the Zohar says Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah are an even better time to ask Hashem for anything at all. That seems backwards, since the Yamim Noraim just ended. What changed in these 21 days to make this moment closer still, and what should we be asking for? Rabbi Asaf Prisman closes with the last Simchas Torah of the Mir Yeshiva in its old city, when the students knew they might not get out, and one song they sang again and again.

495

The Optical Illusion World • Parshas Bereishis • Ep. 100

Oct 24, 2019

9:59

On the first day Hashem says "let there be light," and there is light. On the second, He says it and then "made" the Rakia. On the third He tells the land to bring forth grass, and the Torah adds that fruit and vegetables carry their own seed. Why does each day of Bereishis put one more step between Hashem's word and the result? And what is this setup meant to test in us? A mashal about villagers who rebuild a train, car by car, is about how easily we miss the first link.

496

Our relationship with objects • Parshas Noach • Ep. 101

Oct 31, 2019

12:04

Rashi says Hashem held back Noach's children until he was 500, so that he wouldn't have to build more arks for righteous sons or watch wicked ones die. But wouldn't Noach have wanted the help? And why did the ark take 120 years to build? Rav Chaim Shmulevitz answers both. A Gemara in Yoma about Nikanor, a ship in a storm and two heavy gates makes his idea concrete. The things in our homes, and the people closest to us, are part of it.

497

Be the best Yid • Parshas Lech Lecha • Ep. 102

Nov 6, 2019

10:00

A man in rags saves for months to buy the suit he's been staring at in a shop window. At the shop he tries it on and is furious. That mashal sits beside a question in Lech Lecha. Lot also left home with Avraham, so why did one end up as the model of good character and the other in Sodom? And why does Hashem list what to leave in what looks like the wrong order: land, then birthplace, then father's house? The Vilna Gaon on "ito" versus "imo" points to what going "with" someone really takes.

498

The ultimate test in life • Parshas Vayera • Ep. 103

Nov 14, 2019

9:08

Some parts of serving Hashem come to us easily, and some parts we quietly know we're avoiding. After the Akeidah the angel says, "Now I know that you fear Hashem." Now? Avraham had already left his home, been thrown into the fire and welcomed every guest. The Netziv compares him to a man close to the king who is told to harm his son, and asks what is different here. A second approach asks what made this one test unlike all the others Avraham had passed.

499

Thirst to do good • Parshas Chayei Sarah • Ep. 104

Nov 21, 2019

6:25

Avraham says "a morsel of bread" and then runs to fetch the best meat for three guests. Efron says "it's free," then names 400 shekel, and then wants the finest silver. The Gemara in Bava Metzia sums it up: tzaddikim say little and do a lot, and the wicked say a lot and do little. But why is the speaking part in the line at all, when doing is what counts? Rav Yeruchem sees a link between the two. It touches the good we all mean to do and never quite get to, and how the Chofetz Chaim answered a request.

500

Continuous Giving • Parshas Toldos • Ep. 105

Nov 27, 2019

8:56

Why does Yitzchak's blessing to Yaakov begin with the word "and," when nothing came before it? Rashi and the Midrash Rabbah both notice the strange opening, and the Midrash hears in it a promise that Hashem will give, and then give again. A Rosh Yeshiva's idea about a child, his father and a credit card makes it concrete. It also asks how much of our own day is a quick payment to Hashem, and how much is a connection that keeps going.

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