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.
Eikev 5785
Vaeschanon 5785
Dvorim 5785
Matos Masai 5785
Balak 5785
Vaeschanon 5785
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This week's YouParsha http://youtu.be/pnqmAXmxomk Today's the day - Just do it! You'll have to do something else tomorrow
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Parshas Vaeschanon - Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11 - displays a classic example of the principle of, "Two verses pose a contradiction until a third clarifies." On one hand, the verse states (Deut 4:35), "You were shown to know that Hashem is G'd there is none other besides him." This verse implies that the only existence is Hashem (we can explain this using subatomic theory. Were we to examine anything under a super microscope [which does not yet exist] we would see tiny pods of energy - indicating that matter is compressed energy. We can prove this mathematically by inversing Einstein's formula E=mc2 which reads, 'Energy is mass in motion," to M=c2/e or 'Mass [meaning stuff] is energy which isn't moving." Hashem is energy (along with everything else.)
On the other hand, Genesis 1:1 clearly states, "In the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth," implying that heaven and earth exist in addition to Hashem's existence. Deuteronomy 4:39 solves the problem, "You shall know this day and put it to your heart that in the heaven above and the earth below there is no other." This verse includes heaven and earth and leaves out besides him. We do exist - but only because Hashem gives us a true existence. For example, the sun is called a great luminary. It will shine until the end of time (no worries about any supernovas in the next 13 billion years). The sun is not burning out because it is a true existence. The only thing is that it will exist only until the end of time. Once Hashem stops creating time, the sun will cease to exist. I welcome your comments.
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The Parsha contains a repeat of the Ten Commandments (there are summer repeats even in the Bible). One of the commandments is to refrain from working on the Shabbos. I heard the following from Rabbi Shalom Ber Gordon, A"H, of Newark.
In 1957, a couple came to Rabbi Gordon, they had a daughter in her early 30's who was not yet married. Rabbi Gordon suggested they meet privately with the Rebbe. While in yechidus, the woman told the Rebbe that they ran a very successful business in Newark and even had enough to retire. Their one concern was their daughter. The Rebbe suggested they close the store on Shabbos as Shabbos would provide a vehicle for their success.
The woman left in a huff. She had grown up in Europe. There, one gave money to a rebbe who would give the person blessings. They never made demands, especially not such demands!
Ten years went by and the daughter, now in her early 40's, did not find a husband. The summer of 1967 was a summer of civil unrest. The Newark riots (I remember the national guardsmen sleeping on our lawn and the tanks in Weequahic Park) decimated Newark's economy and closed that couple's store - forever. Their daughter became engaged shortly thereafter to a man the family had known for decades. The Shabbos provided the vehicle for their success. ============================================
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