TMC Torah Blog

After Birchas Hashachar, we recite Karbonos. The Gemara in Megillah relates that Avraham asked Hashem how Klal Yisrael would achieve forgiveness once the Beis Hamikdash is destroyed if we can no longer bring Karbonos. Hashem replied, when Klal Yisra…

The Avudraham (Shachris Shabbos, page 189) explains why we read the Haftorah each week: "It was decreed that the Jews could no longer read from the Torah, so the rabbis established to start reading from the Neviim instead." Tosfos Yom Tov (Megillah-…

Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Laws and Customs Sources: Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein Halacha Shiur (Daily Halacha) Shulchan Aruch Harav - Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi (https://shulchanaruchharav.com/shabbos-rosh-chodesh-laws-and-customs/#_ftn4) When Rosh Chodesh f…

Parshas Korach recounts Korach's failed rebellion against Moshe, detailed in Korach 16:1–18:32. Korach, a Levite, conspired with his mob and 250 Israelite chieftains to challenge Moshe's authority. Despite warnings, they defied Moshe's instruc…

When a Jew sees his tzitzis, he is to remember all of Hashem's commandments and should be encouraged to keep them.  How do tzitzis remind us of the mitzvos? Rashi bases his explanation on a gematria: the word tzitzis (in its Mishnaic spelling…

The 20th of Sivan is a longstanding Jewish fast day, initially established by Rabbeinu Tam in 1171 to commemorate various tragedies in Jewish history.  It originally memorialized the Martyrs of Blois, the first victims of blood libel in contin…

The Shulchan Aruch (2:6) rules that walking four amos with an uncovered head is forbidden. This is the source for the yarmulka (an acronym of the words yurei malka- fear the king) or kippah. However, why do all males above the age of three wear one?…

Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, known as The Mashgiach, was a renowned mashgiach ruchani and baal mussar at the prestigious Mir Yeshiva in Belarus. Born in 1873 (5633 in the Jewish calendar) in Lyuban, Minsk Voblast, Belarus, he showed early promise in his…

Parshas Shelach (שְׁלַח‎) The parashah tells the story of the twelve spies sent to assess the promised Land, commandments about offerings, the story of the Sabbath violator, and the commandment of the fringes (צִיצִת‎, tzitzis). It comprises 5,8…

The False Messiah Who Betrayed Judaism  Shabbetai Tzvi, an Ottoman Jewish mystic and rabbi from Smyrna, proclaimed himself the long-anticipated Jewish Messiah on Sivan 17 in 1648.  He amassed followers across the Ottoman Empire, claiming…