by Rabbi Shaps | Sep 3, 2021 | Nitzavim, Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Rosh Hashana, Weekly Parsha
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ― Yogi Berra It is the last Shabbos of the year and Rosh Hashanah is around the corner. Where are we in comparison to a year ago and where do we want to be next year at...
by Rabbi Shaps | Aug 13, 2021 | Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Weekly Parsha
Have you looked in a mirror lately? What do you see? Have you noticed that in a mirror image your right hand seems to be on your left side, and vice-versa? How true is our perspective and are we sure that we are seeing things correctly? In this week’s Torah reading we...
by Rabbi Shaps | Jul 29, 2021 | Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Va'eschanan, Weekly Parsha
You would think that if everyone followed the laws of the Torah, Hashem would be pleased and all would be good. Yet, the Talmud in Bava Metzia 30b teaches that Rabbi Yochanan said “Jerusalem was destroyed because people judged based on Torah Law”. The Gemara...
by Rabbi Shaps | Jan 21, 2021 | Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Weekly Parsha
D’var Torah by Rabbi Zischa Shaps What defines someone as “Great”? In the Torah world we refer to a leader as a Gadol. Someone who is great. Theword Gadol has a number of meanings. We use it to mean large or big. We use it tomean great and we also use it to refer to...
by Rabbi Shaps | Dec 24, 2020 | Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Weekly Parsha
D’var Torah by Rabbi Zischa Shaps Why is this happening to me? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Parsha Vayeishev tells the story of Yosef and how he was sold into slavery by hisbrothers. If we only read this week’s Parsha and don’t continue, we would...
