Rav Weiss continues his explanation of the six constant mitzvot. This week, #3 - How to always think about the unification of God - Achdut Hashem. What does true unification mean? How do we perform this Mitzvah? How does this Mitzvah help us understand the Divine?
The Six Constant Mitzvot #1: Emunah!
We have started with the 6 מצוות תמידיות, the first of which is מצוות האמונה, which is found at ספר החינוך, פרשת יתרו, מצוה כ"ה. We learned the בה"ג's opinion that we can't count Emunah as one of the Commandments, because the awareness of the "Commander" and the acceptance of His authority to command is the...
Sefer HaChinuch Introduction: Difference Between Torah and Mitzvot
We have 613 Mitzvot in the Torah (commandments). There are two components to the Torah - Torah & Mitzvot. What is the difference between the concepts of "Torah" and "Mitzvot", and what is the relationship between them? On the one hand, they are interwieved throughout the Torah and the Mitzvot...
Why Do We Need a Red Heifer? Parashat Chukat
Why do we need the Mitzvah of Para Aduma - the Red Heifer? How does the impurity of touching a corpse effect spiritual life, and specifically life around the Temple? What lessons and practices can we learn from the Para Aduma in today's world?
Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith
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Iggeret Teiman: Prophecy vs. Sorcery & Idolatry – disputing the myths of Muhammad’s mention in the Torah
The Rambam disputes the claim that the prophet Muhammad is hinted to in Deuteronomy 18, totally out of the context of the paragraph that discusses the alternatives of the nations of the world, where they turn to idolatry and sorcery, for answer in the future, as opposed to the nation...
Iggeret Teiman: Did G-d Choose the Nation of Israel by intent or by default?
The Rambam disputes any mistaken thought that G-d made the descendants of Ishmael a nation of values and ethics. Instead, according to many verses in Genesis the Rambam proves that G-d chose the descendents of Isaac, and not the descendents of Ishmael.
Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith
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Iggeret Teiman: How do the Jewish People Survive Persecution?
The Rambam focuses on the fact that as a nation we have suffered the most terrible anti-Semitic persecutions over the course of history and explains the hard truth that the glory of our nation is our ability to withstand the suffering, while still maintaining the awareness of God and our...
Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith #13: The Next World – Myths and Reality
His description of Olam Haba as found in theLaws of Teshuva Ch. 8. Rambam gives a perspective how central Olam Haba, The Next World, is in the scope of Judaism, and how much emphasis one should put on striving to get to Olam Haba, versus focusing on doing mitzvot and...