Stories Of Greatness

The tzaddik R’ Michoel Ber Weissmandl zt”l was famous both for his survival and rescue efforts during the Holocaust as well as his teachings based on what would later be termed “Equidistant Letter Sequences” (ELS), later popularized by Aish HaTorah and other programs as “Bible Codes.” Notably, the well-known code of the Nuremberg trials and “Purimfest 1946” was first attributed to him in 2002 by Rabbi Chaim Alexander Neiman. While the Nuremberg teaching is not itself an example of ELS, it is often mentioned in the context of other “Bible Codes” and viewed as part of that genre.

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski zt”l, an expert in the field of understanding the human mind and psyche, recalled an episode he witnessed when he was a psychiatrist in a large state hospital with hundreds of mentally ill patients. Medical students would visit the hospital periodically, and he would deliver lectures as well as show them various cases described in psychiatric literature but rarely seen outside an institution.

The Baal Shem Tov zt”l notes that Parshas Terumah, containing the mitzvah of donating toward the building of the Mishkan, immediately follows Parshas Mishpatim, which concludes with receiving the Torah. The command to build the Mishkan was Hashem’s way of telling Klal Yisrael to actualize their acceptance of the Torah. It wasn’t enough to proclaim, “We will do and we will hear,” and then return to their normal lives as if nothing had transpired.

The Six-Day War was a defining moment for the State of Israel and the Jewish People. In six lightning days, Israel vanquished all her foes and saw her enemies flee before her. The stories of the many miracles that took place in those days are legion, and all have yet to be recorded in the annals of history. But for those who lived through that time, they will undoubtedly recall the anxiety and fear that gripped the nation and Jews all over the world.

When the Chassidic movement began to blossom at the turn of the 19^th century, many Torah scholars feared it would become nothing more than a populist movement that, in order to attract adherents, might be lax in demanding rigid observance of halachah. The movement had begun not long after the Shabbetai Tzvi (false messiah) debacle, and many people were also afraid that the Chassidic emphasis on Kabbalah might lead to similar defections. However, in the coming years, as Chassidus proved itself faithful to halachah, the differences between the two groups took on the flavor of feuding for the sake of feuding, and people who enjoyed fighting found a banner under which to do battle. For the most part, this did not last long, and eventually both groups learned to live with each other’s unique mannerisms and customs.

Pharaoh warned Moshe that “evil faces you”—a star by the name of רעה (evil) that he saw through his astrological predictions, was ascending to meet the Jews in the wilderness, bringing with it an omen of blood and death. What he did not know was that Hashem transformed the blood which Pharaoh had interpreted as killing and death, into the blood of circumcision, which proved to be a merit and protection for the nation, rather than a harbinger of evil and disaster.