Question: Why is Rashi telling us that he worked another seven years honestly? Of course he did, he’s an honest man. After all, this is Yaakov Avinu the man who embodied honesty. Answer: Rashi is teaching us a profound lesson in morality. Typicaly if you’re a nice guy, I’m a nice guy back. It’s easy to be nice to nice people. It’s easy to do favors to people who appreciate what we do for them….
The Bach commenting on Tur Shulchan Aruch explains that the decrees of the Yivanim against the Jewish people occurred because the Jewish people became “lax in their service.” Earlier in history, the Bais HaMikdash had been the center of life, the pride of every Jew. Going up to Yerushalayim three times a year was looked at with excitement and great anticipation, and the effect of the service was appreciated by all. However, at the time…
Al Ha’Nisim: the miracle of the battle The Maharal states that this Gemara seems to contradict what we say in Al Ha’Nisim, a tefillah that was written by the Tanaim hundreds of years before. In the Al Ha’Nisim, we proclaim thanks to HASHEM for the miracle of the war. We thank HASHEM for delivering the Yivani armies into our hands. “You fought their battles, judged their judgments, took their revenge. You put the mighty into…
Pharaoh had a dream. First, seven “good” cows came out of the Nile. Then seven “bad” cows came up and consumed the first cows. When he awoke in the morning, he called for Yosef to interpret the dream. Yosef explained that the seven “good cows” represented the seven years of plenty that would then be followed by seven years of famine. Interestingly, the expression the Torah uses to describe the first set of cows is,…
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