7 Divrei Torah on each Parsha from Lavi Greenspan
Article on Lavi in Mishpacha Magazine: Crystal Clear – Mishpacha Magazine
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ויקהל – פקודי
7×2 thoughts 14 vorts Rav Moshe explains that בנ״י acted with זריזות by donating to the משכן right after משה told them about it, even though they had time. The חפץ חיים explains that if you have a true desire to do a מצוה then ה׳ will help you fulfill it, which we see from…
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כי תשא
Rav Abba Bronspiegel explains that כי תשא is a command to every Jew to lift up their head because they are a Jew. The אבני אזל asks why is the לשון of תשא which means lift up used for counting? He explains because when a Jew is counted alone there is no חשיבות, only when…
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תצוה
Rav Moshe explains that the oil for the מנורה needed to be pure teaching us that people who are role models and teachers of תורה need to act in a completely pure way. Rav Eliezer Ginsburg explains that אתה תצוה…שמן זית זך teaches us that each and every Jew needs to try and make themselves…
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תרומה
The רל״ג explains that ויקחו לי means that the best way to give something to ה׳ is to take away the “I” from yourself. The חתם סופר explains that ידבנו לבו means that while it is not up to each person whether they are מחויב to give צדקה because that depends on how much money…
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משפטים
Rashi explains that ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם is teaching that we shouldn’t go to non Jewish courts. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that even if the judgement will be the same as in a Jewish court it is still not allowed because then you will think that the money you get from court is not…
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יתרו
Essence of Yitro: First, the gematria קטן of יתרו is 13, so he became a גר because he heard of the יג מידות הרחמים that כלל ישראל has. Second, Rav Moshe Tuvia Leif explains that יתרו first of heard of קריעת ים סוף and then how even with that עמלק still attacked the Jews, so…
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בשלח
Why did Hashem lead Am Yisrael through the longer route? First, the חפץ חיים says that from the fact that we went the longer route shows that sometimes the shorter route can hurt your ruchniyus. Second, the דעת זקנים explains that כי קרוב הוא is saying that ה׳ is close to us and Rav Moshe…
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בא
Rav Menachem Pfeiffer and Rav Mendel Blachman explain that the תורה says ״בא״ and not ״לך״ because ה׳ was telling משה to come with Him to פרעה, not that he was just going to go alone. Rav Dovid Miller said a different פשט. He explained that ה׳ was saying that even when you go to…
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וארא
Several thoughts regarding Pharoah: First, Rav Shternbach says that פרעה went to bathroom in the Nile. There had to be sometimes that he had to hold it in, which is painful and not healthy. We see how far people are willing to go for honor. Second, the ספורנו explains that the reason ה׳ hardened פרעה’s…
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שמות
We learn a lot from the character of Moshe. For example, Rav Yaakov Weinberg says that the reason משה was chosen to be leader was because he took his sheep every day, day in and day out, to the desert to make sure they didn’t eat other people’s things, even though when you do something…
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ויחי
Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that יעקב was alive because since he was reunited with יוסף he was happy, and when you are happy you are alive. Alternatively, Rav Eliezer Ginsburg explains that the reason יעקב was able to live in happiness in מצרים was because he was ״ויצא מלפני פרעה״, he left פרעה. Rav Moshe…
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ויגש
The רמב״ן, רד״ק and שער בת רבים explain that the reason why פרעה was happy when he saw יוסף’s family was because now he saw that יוסף came from a חשוב family and he wasn’t worried that maybe he had a person from a family of slaves running Egypt. The ספורנו explains that פרעה and…
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מקץ
Why does it say?מקץ שנתים ימים The word ימים is extra? Rav Moshe Shternbach explains that יוסף took each day and asked himself what he is supposed to do to serve ה׳ best. What can we learn from Paroah’s dream? The שפת אמת says that פרעה’s dreams of seven years of famine and seven years…
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וישב
Rav Gluck explains that וישב stands for ויבטחו בך יודעי שמך because the only way to pass a test is to believe in ה׳. Similarly, Rav Simcha Bunim of Pshischa says that the פסוק of ״ויהי ה׳ עם יוסף ויהי איש מצליח״ means that ה׳ was with יוסף because he was always thinking of ה׳ even…
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וישלח
The חפץ חיים says that יעקב said he has כל and עשו says he has רוב, meaning יעקב was satisfied with everything he had and עשו was not. Rav Moshe says a little different פשט that יעקב was saying that he has everything he needs to be an עבד ה׳, but עשו was saying that…
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ויצא
Rav Moshe explains that יעקב called this place a בית אלקים and then talked about מעשר because the only way to have a בית אלקים is to do חסד. Rav Moshe explains that ה׳ appeared to יעקב on his way to חרן to show that you can have השראת השכינה wherever you are. The 7…
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תולדות
Rav Moshe explains that even though we were introduced to אברהם and יצחק when they were being tested, we are introduced to יעקב when he is just learning, to show that even when one is not being tested he still needs to strive to grow. The ספר דרש ועיון explains that ויגדל האיש וילך הלך…
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חיי שרה
Rabbi Baruch Newman explained that בא בימים means that אברהם came into each day with two concepts on his mind: the day he was born to remember his mission on earth and the day he will die and have to be judged. The בית אברהם explains that it means that he came into each day…
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וירא
Audio of Lavi on Parshat Veyeira: Vayeira (yutorah.org) Rav Moshe says we learn from ה׳ visiting אברהם that ביקור חולים is helpful even if you are not giving the sick person anything. Also, even if you don’t know the reason for a מצוה, you still need to do it. Rav Noach Weinberg: We learn from…
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לך-לך
Audio of Lavi on Parshat Lech Lecha: Lech Lcha (yutorah.org) The משך חכמה explains the words of ״אל הארץ אשר אראך״ as meaning that when אברהם gets to the land then ה׳ will show him off to everyone there. The שער בת רבים explains that it specifies that אברהם took all his stuff because אברהם…
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נח
Audio of Lavi on Parshat Noach: Noach (yutorah.org) Rabbi Ephraim Twersky explains that צדיק היה בדורותיו means that נח didn’t look at the people around him to see if they were better or worse than him because that is a tactic of the יצר הרע, rather he was exactly in his own generation and looked…
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בראשית
Audio of Lavi on Bereishit: YUTorah Online and Bereishis (yutorah.org) The רל״ג explains that it says יום אחד because ה׳ is telling every Jew that we can bring light to the earth even in one day. The Radziner says that the פסוק says ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר יום אחד and not יום ראשון because it…