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.
Haazinu Yom Kippur 5786
Vayelech 5786
Nitzavim 5785
Ki Savo 5785
Ki Tetsei 5785
Haazinu Yom Kippur 5786
Please click on the link below to receive the e-Parsha in the way cool HTML version right to your inbox. http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1103523647591&p=oi
=====================================
This week's YouParsha Haazinu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE6YAC_gJhQ The Potion of Our Inheritance
===============================
This week is Parshas Haazinu, Deuteronomy 33. At the beginning of the Parsha, Moshe beckons to the Heavens and Earth to act as witnesses on behalf of the Jewish people. In previous Parshas, Moshe warned the Jewish people that the Earth would become like iron and heavens like copper if they did not heed his warning and follow the path of Torah and Mitzvahs. The usual understanding of Moshe now calling upon heaven and earth to act as witnesses, is also to punish the Jewish people during their times of misdeed.
Moshe is referred to as the humblest person that ever lived. It is said that on the day of his death, Hashem showed Moshe what was to happen until the end of time. Moshe was most impressed and humbled by our generation, the last generation before Moshiach. Moshe was amazed that an entire generation of Jews would be able to adhere to the Torah and its commandments without seeing the benefit. When Moshe did a mitzvah, he witnessed the G'dliness that that mitzvah was able to draw down into the world. He could not understand the fervor and intensity that the Jewish people display in their performance of mitzvahs in our generation.
To this, we call upon the two witnesses of Heaven and Earth to provide testimony to the Almighty that the Jewish people are indeed adhering to the lessons that Moshe taught us more that 3300 years ago and to fulfill His promises to the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to bring us to a land flowing with milk and honey, together with Moshiach, immediately.
===================
The Torah reading for Yom Kippur is taken from Parshas Emor. The story of the service is read in the morning, while the sexual prohibitions comprise the afternoon Torah reading.
The Day of Atonement is the focal point of the Jewish calendar. The High Priest was the representative of the Jewish people to act as mediator with Hashem. The Holy of Holies, which the High Priest entered on Yom Kippur, was the holiest place on Earth. The Kaballa refers to Yom Kippur as the absolute unification of the people, place and time.
Judaism views marital relations as one of the holiest acts. Besides the obvious reason of procreation, marital relations unify the Almighty with the husband and wife. Generally, we say that there are three in a marriage: husband, wife and Hashem. The Hebrew word for marriage is "kiddushin". The root of kiddushin is kadosh, holy. Man and woman are united in a holy union. The Hebrew word for man is ish, aleph, yud, shin. Woman is isha, aleph, shin, hey. Aleph, shin, the common letters means fire. The remaining letters, yud and hey, form one of the highest names of Hashem. When man and woman are joined in kiddushin their union becomes the fire of Hashem. This is the only way that this holiness can be achieved. More important than Yom Kippur and the forgiving of a Jew's sins for the entire year is the stability of the family.
=========================================================
Faivish Schapira was 12 years old when his mother passed away. His father, a prominent Chasidic Jew in Antwerp, dedicated the remaining 45 years of his life to raising their seven sons and five daughters.
When Faivish was 35, he visited New York for the first time. Mr. Schapira attended a farbrengen (Chasidic gathering) at "770" where the Rebbe spoke for many hours at the conclusion of Purim. "I wanted to meet the Rebbe personally at least for a moment. So after the farbrengun, I went upstairs and waited for the Rebbe in the hallway, close to the Rebbe's room, having been told that the Rebbe would pass there on his way out of the gathering." As the Rebbe approached the door of his room, Mr. Schapira held out his hand to greet him, as was the custom amongst Polish Chasidim. One of the Rebbe's attendants tried to push aside Mr. Schapira's hand, as this was not the Lubavitcher custom, but the Rebbe took hold of Mr. Schapira's hand and, in a most unusual gesture, led him into the Rebbe's private office.
Mr. Schapira stood in the Rebbe's office. The Rebbe took out a key, opened a cabinet, and removed a letter, which he gave to Faivish to read. It was a letter written by his mother, more than two decades earlier. In the letter, Mrs. Schapira asked the Rebbe to pray for her that she should be healthy for she had 12 young children to raise. She poetically described her children as not just 12 children but as 12 generations of descendants.
"I was too shocked to even ask the Rebbe how he had known who I was as I had not identified myself. The Rebbe told Mr. Schapira that he could not give him his mother's letter. For, the Rebbe explained, "Every year on the eve of Yom Kippur I take out this letter and read it before Kol Nidrei." Mr. Schapira later learned that before Kol Nidrei - the time that parents bless their children - the Rebbe had the custom to bless all of the yeshiva students who had gathered in the study hall.
============================================
Listen Weekly to the Jewish Hour Podcast. www.rabbifinman.com. Now available on iTunes, spotify, audacy, and wherever you park your podcasts.
The Torah e-Parsha is a project of Jewish Ferndale. For information on sponsoring the Torah e-Parsha in memory or for the recovery of a loved one, in honor of a simcha or you just feel like being nice, contact via reply. All contributions are tax deductible. Please forward this message to as many friends and associates as you like. © 2025 by Herschel Finman.
Contact Rabbi Finman for information on sponsoring the e-Parsha
