Parshas Noach
13 maamarim of the tzaddikim on this week's reading, each in Hebrew and English with a takeaway.
Lehavas David
Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz ›Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzNoach the Humble: Knowing When to Stand TallLike Noach, a true tzaddik always sees himself at the beginning and finds something to improve even in his good deeds, and this humility is true wisdom. But humility belongs to…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzNoach's Higher Path: Faulting Even Good DeedsThe first step is to turn away from our bad deeds. The tzaddikim, like Noach, Yaakov and the Yid HaKadosh, went further: they looked for a flaw even in their good deeds, worried…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzThe Heart's Inclination: Thirty-Two Paths of TorahHashem promised never again to strike all living things, even though the inclination of man's heart is evil, because He gave us the Torah as the antidote to the yetzer hara. When…
Yismach Yisroel
Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok Dancyger ›Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerNoach's Chein and the Duty to Benefit OthersThe world was built on chessed, and we become like our Creator only when we use our wisdom, strength and wealth to benefit others. Withdrawing from people is a last-resort defense…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerNoach's Two Modes: Dust and Ashes, and the World Created for MeWholeness is a balance, not one fixed posture: lean on “I am dust and ashes” when pride rises, and on “for my sake the world was created” when despair sets in. Alone among people…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerNoach's Trust: Bitachon Even When UnworthyNo one is too far gone to trust Hashem. Noach knew he did not deserve rescue, yet his trust in Hashem's kindness saved him and the world, while his generation was lost because it…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerAlways Disqualifying Yesterday's ServiceReal growth in avodah means that each day's deeper sense of Hashem's greatness makes yesterday's service look small. Like Noach, who knew he was saved only by undeserved grace, a…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerUnity: The Key to Prayer and TorahPeace and unity among Jews are the vessel that makes prayer effective and the Torah receivable; through them even people at their lowest can return to Hashem, while division seals…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerWalking with Hashem Versus Walking on One's OwnFear of punishment can keep a person from falling, but it leaves him needing outside support. Avraham's way was love: seeing Hashem's greatness and kindness, living by the light…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerIn His Generations: Lofty Heart, Humble SelfA Jew needs two postures: “I am dust and ashes” against pride, and “the world was created for me” against despair, since Hashem's mercy, not our worth, lifts us. As long as the…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerHumility Purifies When Preparation Is LackingPrepare for every mitzvah, prayer and Shabbos with self-reckoning, awe and love; that is the plowing before the sowing. But when you arrive unprepared, do not despair or go…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerTzaddikim Open Windows in the BarrierSin builds a wall between us and Heaven, and the quality of our mitzvos and prayers decides whether we open a full window in it or only a narrow crack. Like Noach, a person can…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerNoach's Fear, Avraham's Love, and TrustEven when a person sees nothing in himself but failure, there remains an untouched inner point that Hashem sees. His part is not to claim righteousness but to lean entirely on…