A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

We love to see salvations from Hashem. Sometimes, we witness immediate responses to our tefillot , and when that happens, it is an incredible experience. Rabbi Aholiav Chiyun once related that he met Rabbi Shlomo Musayof, founder of the Musayof shul in Yerushalayim, on Purim . Rabbi Musayof looked noticeably sad, and when Rabbi Chiyun asked him wha…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

The Yismach Yisrael writes that if someone is humble regarding parnasa and truly believes that his income does not come from his efforts but rather from Hashem's chesed , he opens the pipelines for more shefa to pour down. The mann that the Jews received in the Midbar came in the merit of Moshe Rabbenu, who was the most humble of all. His humility …

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Our Sages teach us that the world stands on three pillars: Torah , Avodah , and Gemilut Chasadim . Rabbi David Najjar found a fascinating allusion to this concept in a Passuk from this week's Parashah, Shemini . The Passuk states: " ואת העולה המציאו אליו לנתחיה ואת הראש ויקטר על המזבח " — referring to the korban olah . Rabbi Najjar notes that the i…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

In the Haggadah, the Pasuk V'nitz'ak el Hashem Elokei Avoteinu refers to the Jewish people crying out to Hashem in prayer, a moment that occurred following the death of the King of Egypt. Immediately after this, the Pasuk states, Vayishma Hashem Et Kolenu —"And Hashem heard their voices," leading to their redemption. What is the connection between …

The beginning of Parashat Shemini tells us of the first day that Aharon and his sons served as Kohanim. Hashem commanded that several special sacrifices be offered in honor of this day, one of which was an עגל – a calf – which Aharon was to bring as a sin-offering. The commentaries explain that Aharon was required to sacrifice an עגל to atone for h…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Rav Chaim Kaniyevsky Z"l asked in his Sefer Ta'amah Dikra, if Hashem wanted to punish the Egyptians measure for measure, drowning them because they drowned the Jewish babies, why do He have to bring them all the way to the Yom Suf to do it? Why couldn't He just bring a tsunami upon them right where they were in Egypt? The Rabbi answered, Hashem wan…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

If we would be able to see what we accomplish by doing mitzvot, we would run after them with such excitement and everything in this world would pale in comparison to them. When the Jewish People were preparing to leave Mitzrayim, they were told to go and gather all the wealth of Egypt. At that time, Moshe Rabbenu chose to go and find the aron of Yo…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

****OUR APOLOGIES FOR THE LAST EMAIL - BELOW IS THE CORRECT SHIUR FOR TODAY**** Hashem gives everyone the chizuk they need to pass the test they are given or to accomplish the mitzvot that He presents them with. If a test or mitzvah opportunity would be too difficult for a person to handle, Hashem will give that person the strength or words of enco…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Rabbi Menashe Reisman asked, "How could it be that the Jewish people sang the אז ישיר after Kiryat Yam Suf with so much joy, being that the Chazal told us that 80% of the Jews died out during מכת חושך ?" That means so many of their relatives and loved ones had just passed away. There were so many orphans and widows, and so many of them lost childre…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Who Would Have Thought? Three people recentlyapproached me, each asking a similar question. "I know that Hashem onlydoes good. Yet, what could possibly be good about the pain and anguish I amgoing through now?" One of them had Shalom Bayit problems, one had Shiduchproblems and the other had health problems. It is easy to learn about Hashem'sgoodnes…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

There are times when a person sets out to do something and, all of a sudden, he hits a roadblock. He tries everything he can to go around it, but to no avail. The roadblock may come in the form of a person denying him or a circumstance denying him. And he is left helplessly to try to figure out what to do next. In those frustrating circumstances, a…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

We have an easy opportunity to fulfill ten mitzvot, every single day, called the עשר זכרונות – the Ten Remembrances. They are printed in the siddur and are usually recited after Shacharit. We can actually fulfill these mitzvot multiple times a day. The Pele Yoetz writes in Erech Dibur that each one of these remembrances is a heading with many subca…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

We begin the Seder with the Ha Lachma Anya , which speaks about the matzah and ends with the words, "Now we are still in Galut. We hope to be in Eretz Yisrael with the Beit HaMikdash before next year's Seder." Rabbi Ronen Sharabani gave a beautiful explanation in his new Haggada Me'afar Kumi about why we begin with this. Chazal tell us that the fin…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

The Vilna Gaon once said that the hardest mitzvah in the entire Torah to fulfill is being happy on the holiday. The reason it's so difficult is because it requires us to be in a constant state of joy for all seven days – no worry, no sadness, no aggravation. This is hard even for a person who's blessed with a family, with a house, with parnasa. But…

** This week's Derasha is dedicated in memory of Avraham ben Gemilah A"H ** As the child observes during the singing of מה נשתנה , there are two points during the seder when we dip some food before eating it. Early in the seder , after kiddush , we dip the karpas (a piece of vegetable) in saltwater, or vinegar (depending on one's family custom), an…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraBy Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

The question has been asked: Why do we call the holiday "Pesach"? It's named after the fact that Hashem "passed over" the homes of the Jews during Makkat Bechorot . But seemingly, that is just one small detail of a much bigger picture. Furthermore, why is this the only miracle described with the term יד חזקה —Hashem's "strong hand"? And why did Has…