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.
Ki Keitsei 5784
Shorftim 5784
Re'eh 5784
Eikev 5784
Vaeschonan 5784
Vaeschonan 5784
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This week's YouParsha Vaeschanon - https://youtu.be/4owgRzFd7Nk The Upbeat Connection Between Tisha B'Av and the Parsha
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Parshas Vaeschanon - Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11 - features the Repetition of the Ten Commandments. In preparation for the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, the people completed a thorough process of spiritual and mental purification, meriting the most intense revelation that the world had ever witnessed. The force of this revelation purged them completely of their evil inclinations and the effects of sin, enabling them to achieve the highest level of Divine consciousness. This Divine consciousness was channeled into the world via the first tablets of the Ten Commandments carved directly by Hashem.
Despite the sublime spiritual level attained through the Giving of the Torah, the people still lacked the powerful yearning for Divinity that is associated with a baal teshuva - one who comes back to Hashem. Hashem so to speak led the Jewish people into the sin of the Golden Calf in order to afford them this advantage (although only a small percentage of the people were actually guilty of worshiping the calf, the rest were implicated by their failure to prevent it. As they all “participated” in the sin, they were all able to feel the yearning associated with penitence).
This reality of yearning for G'd was reflected in the second set of tablets. God inscribed them, as well, but Moshe carved the commandments into them. These second tablets expressed the aspiration toward Divinity, as opposed to the first set of tablets, which expressed G'd’s unsolicited gift of revelation.
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Although raised in a secular home, Sarah had been a Lubavitcher for many years. In the summer of 1985, she planned a visit to Israel to organize Shabbatons for Americans living there. Before leaving, she wrote to ask the Rebbe for a blessing for success in her outreach activities and also in finding a shidduch. The Rebbe answered with a blessing and gave her two bills to give to charity. Without examining the bills, she folded them and put them in her purse.
On her way to Israel, Sarah stopped off in London to visit relatives. There she unfolded the bills the Rebbe had given her. The top bill was an Israeli ten shekel note, but the second was an English pound. Sarah had not told the Rebbe anything about a trip to England. Indeed, the stopover proved providential, as it was there that she was introduced to her future husband.
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