Dovid Saks

Author's posts

Tuned In!

The Torah commands adult males to bind Tefilin upon their arm and head each weekday. Our custom is to wear our Tefilin during the morning Shacharis prayers. The Tefilin boxes contain four portions of the Torah that mention the Mitzvah of Tefilin. These scripts are skillfully handwritten on parchment by a scribe with a quill …

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Worked Up!

This week’s Parsha is host to the fifteen-word Priestly Blessing with which G-d instructed the Kohanim to bless the Jewish nation. The Priests with their arms raised shoulder height and fingers separated in a specific way recite each word and channel G-d’s blessings on the nation. Today, in the diaspora, the Kohanim/priests ascend the Duchan/platform …

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Build Up!

The Torah instructs us that on the second day of Pesach we shall bring an Omer measure of barley flour as an offering. An Omer is approximately 73 ounces. Freshly cut barley was brought into the Temple where it was finely ground into flour. An Omer of the flour was placed in a holy vessel …

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Chair & Cup!

In the second Parsha we read this week, the Torah describes the wonderful blessings we will receive when we observe G-d’s Commandments. The Torah continues by warning us that if we ignore the commandments, great suffering and insecurities will plague the nation. Within G-d’s rebuke and warning to the nation, He adds, “As angry as …

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Better Off!

Renewal is an amazing organization that pairs kidney donors with recipients who need transplants, while supporting the entire process. The following message was received by the organization: I just met an unaffiliated Jewish man who received a kidney donation from a rabbi who lives in Passaic, New Jersey. The recipient told me “I started eating …

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With a Smile!

The Torah instructs us that when one slaughters a Kosher bird or free-ranging animal, such as a deer, he must cover its blood with dirt. This Mitzvah is called Kisui Hadam and a blessing is recited before performing this mitzvah. There are a number of reasons given why this Mitzvah only pertains to these two …

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Release!

The two Parshios we read this week deal primarily with blemishes which the Torah calls Tzoraas. Tzoraas may appear on one’s home in the Land of Israel, or on one’s garment or on one’s skin. The only ones authorized to declare that the blemish is pure or impure, is a Kohain. Neither a doctor nor …

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Simple!

The night before the Jews achieved their redemption from Egypt, they were instructed to eat the roasted Pascal lamb together with Matzah and Morror. The Shem Mishmuel explains that the Jews, when they were at the cusp of the freedom to enter into an elevated bond with the Almighty, were specifically commanded to eat the …

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Riches!

During the recital of the Hagadah we mention how G-d kept His promise to our forefather Avraham where He pre-determined the end of our bondage. As it says in the Torah, “And He said to Avraham, ‘Know for sure that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. They will enslave …

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Freedom!

At the beginning of the Seder, after the fourth step, Yachatz – when we break the middle Matza in half and hide the larger portion for the Afikomen – we proclaim, “This is the poor man’s bread that our ancestors ate while they were slaves in Egypt.” Matza is the most simply made bread. It …

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