Rav Itamar Schwartz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh Download a number of Drashos on Pesach On Pesach, when we left Egypt, we left in haste, and therefore the bread we were carrying did not have a chance to become leavened (chometz). We left with unleavened bread – matzah – which is called lechem oni, “the poor man’s bread.” Why should it matter that we left Egypt with unleavened bread? What does this fact of history have to do with us now? It has relevance to us, even now. Pesach, the “Chag HaMatzos” – the festival of unleavened bread – is called zman cheiruseinu, the time of our free ..read more

Rav Itamar Shwarz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh. From the Weekly Bilvavi email. (send an email to subscribe@bilvavi.net) Download a number of Drashos on Purim QUESTION: What is the avodah for both men and women and Purim, and how can everyone make Purim more meaningful and really take advantage of this great day? ANSWER: There are a lot of aspects to Purim. The halachah of drinking on Purim applies only to men, and the parameters of this halachah is explained by the Poskim. But there are many other aspects of Purim as well which apply to both men and women. Here are some of those po ..read more

Each year, as the cold darkness of winter gives way to the hope of spring, Jews around the world observe the holiday of Purim, commemorating the conspiracy of the Persian King Achashverosh and his wicked viceroy, Haman, whose evil designs boomeranged when the divine hand of Providence orchestrated a miraculous redemption nearly 2400 years ago. The Purim festival is one of our most esoteric rituals, celebrating a variety of theological insights and moral principles: – The hidden miracles of life that pass us by unnoticed unless we pay careful attention – The importance of trust in the wisdom of ..read more

Rav Itamar Shwarz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh. Download a number of Drashos on Purim The Month of Adar – A Time of Happiness We are now in the month of Adar, with the help of Hashem. (In a leap year, we merit to have two months of Adar). It is a well-known fact which power is revealed during the month of Adar: it is the month where there is more simchah/happiness. The Sages state, “When Adar enters, we increase happiness.”[1] To be more specific, the power which describes the month of Adar is known as sechok/laughter.[2] Let us reflect, with siyata d’shmaya, on what the roots of s ..read more

Pleasure, Antisemitism and Jewish Identity Rabbi Reuven Leuchter gave an amazing shiur on Antisemitism and Jewish Identity which you can listen to here: https://torahanytime.com/lectures/281958. Rav Leuchter’s contention is that the current worldwide Antisemitism situation results from the weakening of our Jewish Identity and not because of laxity in specific mitzvos. He highlighted an aspect of Jewish Identity which is focused on the future and not on our present situation. He gave three examples of some of our current failings in this area. Let’s incorporate Rabbi Leuchter’s lecture insights ..read more

Rabbi Daniel Travis Rising to the Occasion “When Adar arrives we increase our level of happiness” ( Taanis 29a). All year long Jews strive to feel the tremendous sense of joy that should accompany our service of G-d. As we draw closer to Purim, we are instructed to raise our spirits to an even higher level. What is the reason for this? We can answer this with help from the famous dictum of the Rema, “There is no joy greater than that which we feel when we have eliminated doubts” (Responsa 5). Adar and Nissan are months during which Hashem performed extraordinary miracles for the Jewish people ..read more

Here’s Rabbi Rietti’s outline of Yisro. You can purchase the entire outline of the Chumash here. Yitro # 18 Yitro Converts – Advice: 10-50-100-1000. # 19 Preparations for Divine Revelation # 20 The Ten Commandments # 18 Yitro Converts – Advice: 10-50-100-1000. * Yitro arrives at Jewish Camp in desert with Tsiporah, Gershom & Eliezer * Yitro blesses HaShem when he hears the details of the Exodus * Yitro eats with Moshe in HaShem’s Presence * Yitro sees Moshe’s method of adjudicating justice * Yitro’s advice, delegate judges of 10, 50, 100, 1000 * Yitro returns to Midian # 19 Preparations fo ..read more

Rav Itamar Shwarz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh Download some Drashos on Eating and Tu BeShevat The month of Shevat, as we are taught by Chazal, is associated with the act of le’itah (chewing), which is otherwise known as achilah, eating.[1] When Esav was starving and he wanted food, he said, “Feed me (“hal-iteini”) from that red stuff” – from the word “le’itah”, to chew and consume food. Let us understand what our avodah of “eating” in Shevat is. We know that a person cannot survive without eating. It is possible for a person to go several days without consuming food, but generally ..read more

We are taught that although Hashem runs the world we have to do our Hishtadlus (our own efforts). What that is in any situation differs for each person and is dependent on a person’s bitachon (trust) and his or her personality type. It’s hard to get the hishtadlus factor exactly right, no too much and not too little. The key for us believing Jews is to remember that even after our hishtadlus, everything is in Hashem’s hands. This is something we have to continually work on to internalize. The halachic works suggest that we read Parshas HaMon everyday to internalize this message. (Tur 1; Shulch ..read more

As normal people, we see things from our individual worldly perspective. That perspective is driven by the desirability of emotional and physical pleasure and the avoidance of emotional and physical pain. As a result we pursue everyday pleasures like enjoying good food and emotionally lifting entertainment. We also avoid situations that produce emotional pains, like seeing ourselves as lower and inferior to our friends. Pursuit of pleasure and avoiding feelings of inferiority seem like reasonable goals, except when we realize that they generate negative traits, such as anger, jealousy, desire ..read more