Back in 1996, Rabbi Finman was asked to speak to the niece of one of his students. After spending many hours answering her questions, the woman gave Rabbi Finman her e-mail address. Rabbi Finman wrote the woman a note and included in it a short insight into that week's Parsha and a short Chasidic story.
Realizing that this was something no one was yet doing,, Rabbi Finman sent the missive to his mailing list of about 30 people. Requests from recipients friends came pouring in. The next week Rabbi Finman sent the e-Parsha to 100 people. Within a year more than 2000 people were receiving it. Today, more than 14,000 receive the e-Parsha weekly and the requests keep coming in.
Yisro 5785
Beshalach 5785
Bo 5785
Vaera 5785
Shmos 5785
Yisro 5785
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Watch the archived edition of the YouParsha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADITKbyl7d8 Yisro and the Court of Law
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This week’s Parsha is Yisro - Exodus 18-20. Yisro, Moshe’s father-in-law is considered the first convert. Up until that time, if one wanted to convert to Judaism, they merely needed to make a public declaration. Moshe’s wife, Tzeporah, was considered the last person to convert in this manner. The primary emphasis of this week’s portion, however, is the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Our sages tell us that the Hebrew name of something indicates the characteristics of that thing, especially if it is a Holy thing. Why is the Torah given to the Jewish people specifically in the portion named after a convert?
The purpose of the giving of the Torah is to facilitate that a “Dwelling be made for the Almighty in this plane of existence”. This entails utilizing the mundane for the holy. When a cow hide is made into Teffilin, it raises the mundane into the realm of the holy. When a person eats kosher food preceded by a brocha, in order to have the strength to do a mitzvah or learn Torah, they are fulfilling the purpose of creation. If a person goes to work in order to be able to support their family in a manner necessary for a proper Jewish lifestyle (Jewish school, procurement of holy objects, books, mezuzahs, etc. and the proper giving of charity), then the very going to work becomes a vehicle for making the world holy.
The name Yisro is the ultimate expression of the ideals of the Torah. He was the priest of an idolatrous nation. Indeed, Yisro worshipped all other idols before becoming Jewish. His becoming Jewish raised the mundane to the holy, fulfilling the creation’s existence.
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Dr. Yechiel Lasri --mayor of Ashdod Courtesy of Ascent of tsfat
My family immigrated to Israel from Ksar Souk, Morocco. We are Sephardi Jews of rich ancestry and this is why, when I was about ten, I began to wonder about an unusual picture that hung on the wall of our home. Our
Sephardi neighbors typically decorated their walls with portraits of Sephardi tzadikim - usually arrayed in turbans and robes - but we had a picture of a bearded Ashkenazi man in a black hat, a suit, and a tie. One time, I asked my mother about him, and she told me this story: In the early 1950s, after the birth of my older brother Shmuel and sister Simcha, she became pregnant again. It was a normal pregnancy, nine months, and a normal birth in the local hospital. But a half-hour after the birth, the baby died. The family was very upset, of course. But when it happened a second time, they were shocked. And when it happened a third time, they began to panic, and then, my mother became pregnant again.
During the pregnancy, she consulted with specialists and rabbis. The doctors said that there was no health problem - that this pregnancy was completely normal, just as the others had been, and that they had no idea at all what could be wrong. Then one of the rabbis in our city, Rabbi Rachamim Lasri - a relative of our family from whom I also learned aleph beis in school before I immigrated to Israel - suggested that she turn to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. At that time, the Rebbe's name was famous throughout Morocco because of the emissaries he sent, with some of whom our family were acquainted. So, it was decided that Rabbi Lasri should write to the Rebbe.
Shortly after, we received a response. The Rebbe said that the mezuzahs of the house as well as my father's tefillin, should be checked to assure that they are kosher. Whatever is wrong with them should be fixed, my parents should give charity, and with G'd's help, everything will turn out well, and a boy will be born. He also made one small request: "If possible, could the child be named after my father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak."
Of course, the Rebbe's response was greeted with great joy. The mezuzah of the house was checked and, indeed, it needed to be fixed, as did my father's tefillin, and everyone hoped for the best. This time, the pregnancy ended well. A healthy baby boy was born on August 21, 1957, and he survived. When it came to naming the baby, the family faced a dilemma that they had not foreseen: There had been a highly revered rabbi in our city - Rabbi Yechiel Dahan, and my mother's best friend dreamt she saw him coming to my mother and putting a son into her arms. Everyone considered this to be a sign from above and many in the family thought the child should be named Yechiel after Rabbi Dahan. Things got even more complicated when my father revealed that he had committed to name the baby Shimon after Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. My father was a member of a group that studied the Zohar every night after the evening prayers. Some years before, my father had resolved that if he would have a normal, healthy boy, he would name him after the Zohar's author.
After much debate - whether to name the baby after Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, after Rabbi Yechiel Dahan, or after Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai - a conclusion was reached. The honor of the local community was paramount, so I was named Yechiel Shimon. The family wrote to the Rebbe to explain, and his response was: "You did the right thing to honor your community. G'd willing, you will have another son, and I ask that you name him Yosef Yitzchak." Indeed, two years later, my younger brother was born, and he was named Yosef Yitzchak. My mother now lives in Ashdod, Israel, and to this day the Rebbe's picture hangs proudly in her living room.
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