12
Feb 2018
Delivered at Telshe by Rosh HaYeshiva Maran HaGaon HaRav Mordechai Gifter, ZT”L on the Holy Shabbos Va’eschonon, 1969 “Beware, lest your heart become allured, and you will stray to serve other gods and prostrate before them.” Devarim 11:16 The Abeyance of Torah Learning Leads to Idol Worship. In explanation of the words “and you will stray,” Rashi quotes from Chazal: “to depart from the Torah, thus serving other gods. For when one strays from the Torah he will then go and attach himself to idol worship.” We find this concept (that departure......
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11
Feb 2018
Based on a Shiur Daas delivered by the Rosh Yeshiva HaRav Mordechai Gifter, zt”l In the liturgical thanksgiving which we recite on Chanukah, it states: “When the wicked Greek kingdom rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget your Torah and compel them to stray from the statutes of your will.” Ordinarily, the word חק, “statute,” connotes a specific type of commandment whose reason is unknown. The usage of this term here indicates that in all the commandments of the Torah, even those which seem logical and readily understandable, there......
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