by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on November 2, 2012
This Tuesday, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many YCT semikha students went down to the Lower East Side to help those suffering from the effects of the hurricane. Students spent several hours handing out water, batteries and flashlights to elderly people stuck in their apartments with no power.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on October 26, 2012
Why did God choose Avraham? In parashat Noach, we read: “And Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; with God did Noach walk (6:9). It is only after introducing Noach’s greatness that the Torah tell us that God spoke to Noach and chose him to be saved from the flood.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on October 19, 2012
What was the sin of the Generation of the Flood? The verses repeat that they had “corrupted their way”, which the Rabbis tell us refers to idolatry and sexual sin. And yet this is not what had sealed their fate, for the verse states: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, because the land is filled with hamas – understood by the Rabbis as “robbery” – through them.”(6:13).…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on September 14, 2012
Can a relationship survive after one of the parties has gone astray, has been unfaithful, or has just constantly failed to keep up his end, his responsibilities? Parashat Nitzavim and Parashat Bechukotai offer two different answers to this question. Both Nitzavim and Bechukotai describe the aftermath of Israel’s sinning against God, and of their having suffered and been punished as a result.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on September 7, 2012
How do we keep a relationship alive? It starts with not taking the other person for granted, with regularly appreciating what that other person gives to you, what he or she means to you. We must also give expression to them through our words and through our actions, so that these feelings become real for the other person and real for us. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on August 31, 2012
In the Torah we find many many mitzvot, but rarely do we find a clear articulation of the reasons or values behind the mitzvot, what is known as ta’amei ha’mitzvot. We are told that the mitzvot are inherently good and that by doing them we will inherit the land and receive God’s blessings.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on August 17, 2012
As Moshe prepares the Children of Israel to enter into the Land, he exhorts them not just to live up to individual responsibilities, but to live up to their communal ones, first and foremost. They are going to enter a new land, and they must turn it into a country.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on August 9, 2012
What appears below is my remarks from the Modern Orthodox Siyum haShas which took place t at Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan. A focal point of this speech is the mitzvah of constantly speaking the words of Torah, which appears in the first paragraph of Shema which we read last week, as well as in the second paragraph of Shema which we read this week in parashat Ekev. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on July 13, 2012
The Israelites have been wandering through the Wilderness for forty years and they are now on the cusp of entering into the Land of Canaan. Things will be different now. There will no longer be the cloud of God to lead them during the day and the pillar of fire to lead them at night.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on July 6, 2012
Parashat Balak is the only parasha in the Torah which provides us with an outsider’s view of Children of Israel. As such, it affords us with a perspective not only on how others see us, but also on how others see, that is, on other ways of seeing.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on June 8, 2012
The Children of Israel have divided themselves into camps, dedicated the Mishkan, and arranged themselves around the Mishkan, so that God, both literally and figuratively, now “dwells in their midst.” The time has come, in this week’s parasha, to decamp and move forward.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on May 18, 2012
Yom Yerushalayim and Shavuot are celebrated a week apart. These celebrations mark two tremendous gifts that have been bestowed upon us: the gift of a unified Jerusalem as part of the State of Israel and under Jewish control, that we received only 45 years ago, and the gift of the Torah, that we received over 3000 years ago.…
