Parshat ha Shavuah Verses Vaetchanan / ואתחנן

Fittingly, after the 9 of AV, we are reminded by Moshe Rabbeinu what we have to do in order to stay alive on the “good land”.     ו  וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם, וַעֲשִׂיתֶם–כִּי הִוא חָכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם, לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים:  אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְעוּן, אֵת כָּל-הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה, וְאָמְרוּ רַק עַם-חָכָם וְנָבוֹן, הַגּוֹי הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה. 6 Observe therefore and do them; for this is your…

Reading Shivhei ha-Besht

My love of learning anything concerning Jewish history brought me this time to a class on early Hasidism. //ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=noshingacro07-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1568211473&asins=1568211473&linkId=9c0e9d167ee0056d2e148390ddfec4d2&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>The book I bought for the class was first published in Hebrew in 1814 or 1815 from an earlier manuscript written by Rabbi Dov Ber ben Shmuel. The stories are remarkable on several levels, but…