Behar
בהרShemitah & Trust
29 translated essays · 57 total
תרל"ב(1871)
Awakening the hidden fire within· Essay 2
In the Midrash: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Mishlei 18:21). The Sefas Emes begins with this pasuk, which the Midrash on the parsha expounds, to teach the power of speech to either awaken or extinguish the hidden life wi…
Drawing timeless rest into the physical world· Essay 3
And this was the entire purpose of creation — that Bnei Yisrael should rectify nature as well. The Sefas Emes states that the world was created so that Bnei Yisrael, through their avodah, would elevate and refine the natural, physical world…
Son and servant: Shabbos and weekday· Essay 4
In the Zohar HaKadosh: a person must serve Hashem in the aspect of a son — to search out His hidden treasures — and in the aspect of a servant — to carry out the command of the King; see there. The Zohar describes two modes of avodah. As a …
Yearning to cleave opens redemption· Essay 5
"And in all the land of your possession…" The Sefas Emes opens with the pasuk about redeeming the land "in all the land of your possession," and reads it as a hint to the inner avodah of every Jew. Through the constant ratzon (will) and yea…
Behar תרל"ב
תרל”ב ב”ה בהר בקיצור כי שכחתי במד’ מו”ח ביד לשון. גחלת נפח בה ביערה רקק בה כיבה. ככר עד שלא עישרו כו’ עישרו חיים כו’ ע”ש. כי בוודאי יש חיות הש”י בכל דבר שבעולם כי באורייתא ברא קוב”ה עלמא. ותור…
Behar תרל"ב
תרל”ב ב”ה בהר בקיצור כי שכחתי במד’ מו”ח ביד לשון. גחלת נפח בה ביערה רקק בה כיבה. ככר עד שלא עישרו כו’ עישרו חיים כו’ ע”ש. THe Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 31a) explains the words of the Pasuk (Mishlei 18…
תרל"ד(1873)
תרל"ה(1874)
תרל"ו(1875)
Accepting Hashem's yoke brings true freedom· Essay 2
On the pasuk "For unto Me are Bnei Yisrael servants; they are My servants." The Sefas Emes examines why the verse states twice that Bnei Yisrael are Hashem's servants. The wording is doubled. He notes that the verse seems redundant — "serva…
Shemittah and the bittul of awe· Essay 3
"And if you should say, what shall we eat, etc.; behold, we may not sow, etc." The Sefas Emes opens with the Torah's anticipated question of Shemittah: if Bnei Yisrael may neither sow nor reap in the seventh year, how will they sustain them…
Behar תרל"ו
תרל”ו ב”ה בהר בחוקותי בפסוק כי לי בנ”י עבדים עבדי הם. הלשון כפול. The pasuk (Vayikra 25:55) “For Bnei Yisrael are servants to Me, they are My servants”. There is a duplication here, (why)? ולי בנ”י עבדים הוא מצד בחיר…
תרל"ז(1876)
Nature and miracle are one· Essay 2
On the verse, "And if you should say, 'What shall we eat [in the seventh year]?'" (Vayikra 25:20). The Sefas Emes addresses the Torah's response to the worry about sustenance during Shemittah. In the sefer Noam Elimelech, in the name of his…
Behar תרל"ז
ב”ה מפ’ בהר בחקותי בפסוק וכי תאמרו מה נאכל כו’. On the Pasuk (Vayikra 25:20) “And if you say: What will eat (during the shmita years), I will command my blessing and you will have food for 3 years”. בס’ נועם אלימלך ב…
תרל"ח(1877)
Resting reveals Hashem's hidden governance· Essay 1
"And the land shall rest" (Vayikra 25:2). The Sefas Emes opens with the verse commanding the shemittah (Sabbatical) rest of the land. In the Midrash: "Death and life are in the hand of the tongue" (Mishlei 18:21). The Midrash connects the l…
Unity binds shmittah and ona'ah· Essay 2
The matter of why the parsha of ona'ah (wronging another in business) is placed adjacent to shmittah. The Sefas Emes opens by asking why the Torah juxtaposes the prohibition of overcharging or deceiving in commerce with the laws of the sabb…
Behar תרל"ח
ושבתה הארץ. במד’ מו”ח ביד לשון. “And the land shall rest” (during the shemitah year).The Midrash (explaining this idea) quotes the pasuk “death and life are in the hands of the tongue” כי האדם נק’ מדבר והוא צריך להטו…
תרל"ט(1878)
תר"מ(1879)
Speech, the Holy Tongue, and bittul as the path to Torah· Essay 2
In the Midrash: "Death and life are in the hand of the tongue" (Mishlei 18:21). The Sefas Emes opens with the verse from Mishlei that the Midrash cites, which places the power of death and life in the "hand" of the tongue — i.e., in the fac…
Behar תר"מ
ב”ה בהר בחקותי במד’ מו”ח ביד לשון כו’. The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 33:1) (on the pasuk teaching us about the prohibition of forbidden speech, quotes the pasuk in Mishlei 18:21), “Death and life are in the hands of th…
תרמ"א(1880)
Unity prepares Bnei Yisrael for Torah· Essay 1
In the Midrash on the pasuk: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Mishlei 18:21)… "Let your tongue be soft to one another," therefore Moshe warns: "Do not wrong one another" (Vayikra 25:17). The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash…
Servant and son ascending together· Essay 2
On the verse, "For Bnei Yisrael are servants to Me, they are My servants…" (Vayikra 25:55). The Sefas Emes takes up the pasuk declaring that Bnei Yisrael are Hashem's servants, the basis for the laws of the Hebrew bondsman in the parsha. "M…
Mutual dependence reveals all comes from Hashem· Essay 3
On the pasuk: "And if your brother becomes impoverished… you shall strengthen him… that your brother may live with you." The Torah commands not merely to give charity but to take hold of a faltering brother and lift him up so that he can li…
תרמ"ב(1881)
Threefold Servitude Bringing Redemption· Essay 1
ג”פ עבדות שנזכר בפרשה. עבדי הם. לי בנ”י עבדים. עבדי הם עפ”י הזוהר פ’ בלק דג”פ עבדות צריך אדם בכל יום לקבל על עצמו ע”ש. The three times that “servitude” is mentioned in the pasuk (Vayikra 25:42,54) “My sla…
Behar תרמ"ב
ג”פ עבדות שנזכר בפרשה. עבדי הם. לי בנ”י עבדים. עבדי הם עפ”י הזוהר פ’ בלק דג”פ עבדות צריך אדם בכל יום לקבל על עצמו ע”ש. וע”ז נתקן ג’ תפלות בכל יום. א’ שפתי תפתח. עבודה שבלב תפלה. וע”…
תרמ"ג(1882)
Servant and son: from yoke to freedom· Essay 1
The matter of the relationship of shemittin and yovlos to Har Sinai, based on the Midrash: "the mighty in strength who fulfill His word" (Tehillim 103:20) — the verse speaks of those who keep the Sabbatical year (shemittah). Why does the To…
Servants of Hashem who rise to sons· Essay 2
And it is written: "For unto Me Bnei Yisrael are servants; they are My servants." The pasuk declares that Bnei Yisrael belong to Hashem as His servants — and the Sefas Emes will probe the doubled phrasing. For it is stated in the Zohar HaKa…
Behar תרמ"ג
ענין שמיטין ויובלות להר סיני ע”פ המדרש גבורי כח עושי דברו בשומרי שביעית הכ’ מדבר כו’. והשכר לשמוע בקול דברו הוא היובל כי שמיטה הוא זכר ליצ”מ ויובל זכר לקבלת התורה. והענין הוא כמ”ש בזוה”ק בפרשה זו כי שמיטה…
תרמ"ד(1883)
תרנ"ה(1894)
28 more essays from this section await translation.