RABBINIC RESOURCE WEBSITE

DRASHA NUGGETS

TOPICS:
Elul
Ki Tavo
Netzavim
Rosh Hashana
Yom Kippur



Joel Finkelstein

Chagim: Elul

Key Source: Sifrei minhagim, on why L'dovid Hashem Ori is said

Description of Key Source: Elul is luleh spelled backwards.

Application: We all have excuses of "luleh" if only I would have done this or that, then I
would have been a better oved Hashem. In Elul, we say that that is backwards thinking;
We need to stop saying if only and start saying, ani ledodi vedodi li, I am committed to
do what I can for Hashem, no excuses given.

Key Words: elul, Ldovid, excuses

Joel Finkelstein

Parsha: Ki Tavo

Chagim: Elul
Key Source: The Rebbe of Slonim, Netivot Shalom

Description of Key Source: Just as we are asked to give Bikkurim, we are asked to give
G-d the first of all our activities and endeavors. We have to show from the outset that all
that ensues is directed and connected to G-d.

Application: As a month begins, we have to start off strong on Rosh Hodesh. As a year
begins we need to give Judaism our best shot. The first thing in the morning is Modeh
ani, to give our first energy to G-d. For a bat mitzvah, or bar mitzvah, it is important to
get off to a great start.

Key Words: Bat Mitzvah, bar mitzvah, new year, bikkurim

Comments: Halacha: we should not do anything major before shacharit so that our first
energy of the morning is focused on G-d.

Joel Finkelstein

Parsha: Ki Tavo

Chagim: Elul

Key Source: Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin, Pri Tzadik

Description of Key Source: And you shall come to the Cohen who is in those days.
According to Rav Tzadok the cohen is you.

Application: As we get involved in shul life, we find the cohen within. Often the lay
person coming to shul brings all the passion of a cohen and as he engages in the service,
the gap between laity and clergy disappears. The laity's passion for torah can often be the
greatest inspiration for a place of worship.

Key Words: bikkurim, first fruits, cohen, finding yourself

Comments: As we begin Elul we blow the shofar which also brings out the hidden cohen
within. We all share the cohen's desire, as it says in L'Dovid Hashem Ori, to dwell in the
house of G-d all the days of our lives.

Yonah Gross

Parsha: Netzavim

Key Source: Rashi on 29:28,

Description of Key Source: Judgment is not just on our own actions. It is on failure to
correct actions of others. in 30:11 the torah says that this mitzvah is not too difficult,
anyone can do it.
Application: Importance of Kiruv

Suggested key words: kiruv

Comments: the introduction to the book “the eye of a needle” has many sources on
importance of Kiruv

Jacob J. Schacter

Chag: Rosh Hashana

Source: R. Abraham ibn Ezra ‫יד‬:‫ד"ה לחם וחמת מים( )בראשית כא‬

Description: Many will ask how Avraham could send out Hagar.
Does this not run contrary to everything Avraham stood for his entire life! Avrohom, the
personification of chesed?
Ibn Ezra answers “It’s amazing that anyone can even consider asking such a silly
question. How could Avraham do what he did? Simple. He did God’s will. Finished.
End of discussion.
But then ibn Ezra adds one line, and maybe it is because of this one line that Chazal draw
our attention davka to this story today, on this first day of Rosh Hashanah. Later he tried
to make it up to Bnei yishmael by giving them gifts. (see Bereshit 25:6). Yes, Avraham
was a faithful Jew, a God-fearing Jew. God told him to do something and he did it. But
Abraham was privately haunted by a deed he had to do for years, until many years later
he tried to make it up. He did then what he was unable to do earlier.

Application: Whether it was too late in that case we do not know but maybe, just
maybe, this is what we should be thinking about on Rosh Hashanah, not having to wait
until it is ‫ באחרונה‬to express regret, to make amends, to rectify our mistakes.

Key Words: Rosh Hashana, Avraham, regret, making amends, chesed

Full Drasha Outline:

We all make mistakes
After all, all human beings make mistakes
‫אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא‬
If we ever acknowledge our mistakes, come face to face with them, it is surely this time
of year and, especially today, on Rosh Hashanah
But most often it is too late. The damage has been done.
But if Rosh Hashanah teaches us anything, it is the capacity to express regret for mistakes
and to act upon that regret before it is too late.

Of all the possibilities for the choice of a Torah reading for the first day of Rosh
Hashanah, why this one?
Why not the story of the creation of the world? After all, ‫היום הרת עולם‬.
Why not the Ten Commandments? The Shema? The brachot of Yaakov to his children?
Why the story of Yitzhak’s birth, the tension between Yitzhak and Yishmael and between
Sarah and Hagar, the banishment of Hagar from the household of Avraham?
You remember the story [TELL IT]. Hagar is forced to leave
‫וישכם אברהם בבקר ויקח לחם וחמת מים ויתן אל הגר שם על שכמה ואת הילד וישלחה ותלך ותתע במדבר‬
‫טו‬-‫יד‬:‫ ויכלו המים מן החמת )בראשית כא‬.‫)באר שבע‬
The life of the child was in danger

R. Abraham ibn Ezra ‫יד‬:‫ ד"ה לחם וחמת מים( )בראשית כא‬asks the obvious question:
‫ ואיה נדבת לבו‬,‫ גם שלח בנו עם אמו ריקם‬,‫?ורבים יתמהו מאברהם איך גרש בנו‬
[TRANSLATE AND DRAMATIZE]
Does this not run contrary to everything Avraham stood for his entire life! Avrohom, the
personification of chesed [ETC.]

And ibn Ezra’s answer is remarkable:

‫[ והתימה מאלו שיתמהו‬TRANSLATE]
What an incredible statement! He is not saying, “Let me answer the question.” He is
saying, “It’s amazing that anyone can even consider asking such a silly question,” one
that you and I think is a good question.
‫כי אברהם עשה ככל אשר צוהו ה' ואילו היה נותן ממון להגר שלא ברצון שרה לא שמר מצות השם‬.
The answer is so obvious, he says, that it is hard to believe that anyone could ever even
consider asking such a foolish question. It is, simply, that Avraham did what Hashem
told him to do. How could he do what he did? Simple. He did God’s will. Finished.
End of discussion.

But then ibn Ezra adds one line, and maybe it is because of this one line that Chazal draw
our attention davka to this story today, on this first day of Rosh Hashanah.
‫( והנה באחרונה אחרי מות שרה נתן מתנות לבני ישמעאל‬see Bereshit 25:6).
Later he tried to make it up to them.

Yes, Avraham was a faithful Jew, a God-fearing Jew. God told him to do something and
he did it. No questions asked. But it still bothered him. True he had no choice, but he
had regrets. Abraham, the universally acknowledged prophetic voice; Abraham, who
exposed tens of thousands of his contemporaries to the greatness of a monotheistic God;
this Abraham was privately haunted by a deed he had to do for years, until many years
later ‫ באחרונה אחרי מות שרה‬he tried to make it up. He did then what he was unable to do
earlier. He gave ‫מתנות לבני ישמעאל‬.

Whether it was too late in that case we do not know but maybe, just maybe, this is what
we should be thinking about on Rosh Hashanah, not having to wait until it is ‫ באחרונה‬to
express regret, to make amends, to rectify our mistakes.

“The past is history, the future is mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why it is called the
present.” Let’s take advantage today to do what we must.

Ari Sytner

Chagim: Rosh Hashana

Key Source: Gemara Rosh Hashana 17b - On the Yud Gimmel Middos

Description of Key Source: Hashem wrapped Himself in a Tallis like a Shliach Tzibur
and showed Moshe how to recite the yud gimmel middos to save Bnei Yisroel whenever
they sin.

Application: a. Why did Hashem demonstrate this? b. Why does prayer really work -
these are just words? Hashem really seeks action not only words. By wrapping in the
Tallis when Hashem was angry at Bnei Yirsoel, Hashem was modeling for Moshe how to
be patient when you are angry and not just react. The words are very important, but they
are not enough on their own. They must be accompanied by proper positive actions and
attitudes. (Teshuva is not in word but deed; prayer must be with composure and decorum)

Key Words: teshuva, prayer, daven, anger, patience, yud gimmel middos, 13 attributes,
repent, action, deed, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Shabbat Shuva, Slichot

Joel Finkelstein

Chagim: Rosh Hashana

Key Source: Vayera 22:1 and 22:7

Description of Key Source: Avraham said hineni to G-d and turned around and said
hineni to his son. We have two total commitments, to G-d and to our family. Is that a
contradiction? No, I am committed to bring G-d to my family. There should be no hineni
malfunction or disconnect; we should be able to connect to our family and to our shul as
part of an effort to have a Jewish life and a Jewish family without compromising on
either.

Application: Too many committees and not enough time at home: Hineni disconnection.
Can't come to shul in order to spend time with the kids: Hineni malfunction. We want to
model shul involvement to the family.

Key Words: hineni, avraham, akeida, family

Joel Finkelstein

Chagim: Rosh Hashana

Key Source: Vayera 22:1 and 22:7

Description of Key Source: Avraham said hineni to G-d and turned around and said
hineni to his son. We have two total commitments, to G-d and to our family. Is that a
contradiction? No, I am committed to bring G-d to my family. There should be no hineni
malfunction or disconnect; we should be able to connect to our family and to our shul as
part of an effort to have a Jewish life and a Jewish family without compromising on
either.
Application: Too many committees and not enough time at home: Hineni disconnection.
Can't come to shul in order to spend time with the kids: Hineni malfunction. We want to
model shul involvement to the family.

Key Words: hineni, avraham, akeida, family

Joel Finkelstein

Chagim: Rosh Hashana

Key Source: Midrash on Beshalach, Hashem Yimloch l'olam vaed

Description of Key Source: If the Jews had said hashem melech, in the present tense,
there would never have been a galut.

Application: Rosh Hashanah is a day of Malchiot. Will we seize the moment and
proclaim G-d king today or will we wait for some other day, for another unnamed time
when we will progress in our Jewish lives?

Key Words: Malchuyot, king, rosh hashanah, seize the moment

Comments: Rav Hutner in Pachad Yitzchak: How is shema different from Malchuyot of
Rosh Hashanah? Shema is a prayer, but on Rosh Hashanah we proclaim G-d is king. We
do not wait.

Joel Finkelstein

Chagim: Rosh Hashana

Key Source: Rav Saadyah on why we blow shofar

Description of Key Source: We blow shofar as a reminder of Jericho and the walls
falling down. The goal of the shofar is to tear down the obstacles to our getting closer
with G-d and to the torah.

Application: We need to think; what are the obstacles toward my making progress in my
Jewish life? What steps can I take to solve these issues?

Key Words: shofar, tearing down walls, obstacles

Comments: Kedushat Levi: Vayagel et haeven me'al pi habe'er: When Yaakov takes off
the rock, he removes the obstacles to holiness. When Moshe conquers Sichon and Og, he
removes the obstacles to enter the land of Israel. The shofar, too, opens the gates to our
greater connection with the torah.
Naphtali Weisz

Chag: Rosh Hashana

Source:Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm on blowing the shofar l’arvev et hasatan, to confuse
the Satan (see Rosh Hashana 16a,b).

Description: What's Confusing the Satan all about? Certainly he has caught on to these
tricks after 5768 attempts?! Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm: It’s not the same Satan. Every
year there is a new Satan who doesn’t know what we did last year. The “Satans” who
threatened and challenged us in 5768 are not the same who will present problems for us
in 5769. Solving old problems requires new approaches. The trouble is complacency,
when we think we’ve seen the problem before and therefore think we know how to
handle it. To succeed we can’t simply do what we did last year and think that will be
good enough.

Application: On this Rosh Hashana, we reflect upon the Constants and the Variables.
The fact that we will be challenged is Constant, the particular obstacle is the Variable.
And just like our challenges will be new, so too our response must be fresh as well. That
we need to transmit it to our children is constant, the way we give it over is the variable.

Key Words: Rosh Hashana, Satan, Shofar, Challenges

Comments: The Torah speaks about two types of horns: Shofar and chatzotzeros. Gm’
Menachos (28) says that all vessels Moshe made are kosher forever, however the
chatzotzros were only kosher during moshe’s life but not for future generations.
Rabbi Zevulun Charlop in the name of his father asks why are the chatzotzros that Moshe
made no longer useable or relevant for the next generation?
Because the chatzotzros were used for gathering the Jews together, and the rallying cry
that was appropriate for the times of Moshe Rabbeinu is not effective for future
generations. What worked for them doesn’t necessarily work for us, what inspired our
parents doesn’t necessarily do it for us, and what we care about passionately won’t
necessarily matter to our children. Although the message/product must be the same, the
method/process must be new. Chanoch l’naar al pi darko, applies to generations and each
generation must be reached according to their particular needs and interests as well.

Full Drasha Outline:

What's Confusing the Satan all about?

Much of the way we blow the shofar was designed specifically l’arvev et hasatan, to
confuse the Satan (see Rosh Hashana 16a,b).
1) Because the Satan sits to the right of Hashem, our left, we blow the shofar on the right
side of our mouth, Hashem’s left so that the sound gets through.
2) No tekias shofar Erev Rosh Hashana.
3) No Rosh Chodesh Bentching for Tishrei.

Certainly he has caught on to these tricks after 5768 attempts?! Rabbi Dr. Norman
Lamm: It’s not the same Satan. Every year there is a new Satan who doesn’t know what
we did last year. The “Satans” who threatened and challenged us in 5768 are not the same
who will present problems for us in 5769. But if each year has the same old themes, is
there anything we can do about the age old problems facing the Jewish people? Solving
old problems requires new approaches. The trouble is complacency, when we think
we’ve seen the problem before and therefore think we know how to handle it. To succeed
we can’t simply do what we did last year and think that will be good enough.

The Torah speaks about two types of horns: Shofar and chatzotzeros:

‫ כשרות לו ופסולות‬- ‫ חצוצרות‬,‫ כשרים לו וכשרים לדורות‬,‫ כל הכלים שעשה משה‬:‫תנו רבנן‬. -- ‫מנחות כח‬
‫לדורות‬.

Rabbi Zevulun Charlop in the name of his father: why are the chatzotzros that Moshe
made no longer useable or relevant for the next generation?
Because the chatzotzros were used for gathering the Jews together, and the rallying cry
that was appropriate for the times of Moshe Rabbeinu is not effective for future
generations. What worked for them doesn’t necessarily work for us, what inspired our
parents doesn’t necessarily do it for us, and what we care about passionately won’t
necessarily matter to our children. Although the message/product must be the same, the
method/process must be new. Chanoch l’naar al pi darko, applies to generations and each
generation must be reached according to their particular needs and interests as well. On
this Rosh Hashana, we reflect upon the Constants and the Variables. The fact that we will
be challenged is Constant, the particular obstacle is the Variable. And just like our
challenges will be new, so too our response must be fresh as well. That we need to
transmit it to our children is constant, the way we give it over is the variable.

Naphtali Weisz

Parsha/Chag: Rosh Hashana

Source: Sanhedrin (109a) describes the fall of Korach. On the way down his sons grab
onto a ledge and cry out to Hashem in unison, Moshe emes v’Toraso Emes.

Description: Before tekias shofar, we repeat Psalm 47, lamnatzeach livnei Korach
seven times. Why do we pause at this dramatic moment to speak repeatedly about
Korach?! “Yesh koneh olamo b’sha achas”, we recall Bnei Korach before tekias shofar
seven times to reiterate that we can change.
Malcolm Gladwell’s, “The Tipping Point” describes how epidemics blow up really
quickly, and even the smallest change can get them started. Everything in life has a
Tipping Point, all great ideas and movements in history, business or politics can all be
traced to one instant where they Tip and set a new series of events into motion.
According to Gladwell, Avraham had “tipped”: We call it something else, Yesh koneh
olamo b’sha achas. (See Bereshit 22:2)
On Rosh Hashana, Yosef “tipped” (See Bereshit 39:9).
You can acquire the World in an instant, but you can lose the World in an instant as well.
Rosh Hashana was the day that Adam and Chava missed their once in a life opportunity
and ate from the etz hadas. Had they “Tipped” all of human history would have been
different!
Rambam in Hilchos Teshuva describes Aseres yimei teshuva as exactly the Tipping Point
where one extra mitzvah … one more aveira …
Application: Tekias Shofar reminds us that we are constantly at the Tipping Point.

Key words: Rosh Hashana, korach, Shofar, tipping point, lamnatzeach livnei Korach

Comments: Story of Ro’i Klein: Israeli soldier cries out Shema Yisrael and threw
himself onto the grenade saving the lives of his fellow soldiers and was buried on his 31st
birthday, was koneh olamo b’sha achas.…

Full Drasha Outline:

Before tekias shofar, we repeat Psalm 47, lamnatzeach livnei Korach seven times. Why
do we pause at this dramatic moment to speak repeatedly about Korach?!

Sanhedrin (109a) describes the fall of Korach. On the way down his sons grab onto a
ledge and cry out to Hashem in unison, Moshe emes v’Toraso Emes.
‫יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת‬, we recall Bnei Korach before tekias shofar seven times to reiterate
that we can change.

Malcolm Gladwell describes in his #1 Bestseller, “The Tipping Point” how epidemics
behave in a counterintuitive way. One child brings chickenpox and it spreads to every
other child in the class in a matter of days.
Epidemics blow up really quickly, and even the smallest change -- like one child with a
virus -- can get them started. Gladwell argues that everything in life has a Tipping Point,
all great ideas and movements in history, business or politics can all be traced to one
instant where they Tip and set a new series of events into motion.

According to Gladwell, Avraham had “tipped”: We call it something else, Yesh koneh
olamo b’sha achas.
‫ויאמר קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק ולך לך אל ארץ המריה והעלהו שם לעלה על אחד‬
‫ההרים אשר אמר אליך‬:
On Rosh Hashana, Yosef “tipped”
‫בראשית פרק לט פסוק ט‬
‫איננו גדול בבית הזה ממני ולא חשך ממני מאומה כי אם אותך באשר את אשתו ואיך אעשה הרעה הגדלה‬
‫הזאת וחטאתי לאלהים‬:

You can acquire the World in an instant, but you can lose the World in an instant as well.
Rosh Hashana was the day that Adam and Chava missed their once in a life opportunity
and ate from the etz hadas. Had they “Tipped” all of human history would have been
different!

Tekias Shofar reminds us that we are constantly at the Tipping Point.

Rambam in Hilchos Teshuva describes Aseres yimei teshuva as exactly the Tipping Point
where one extra mitzvah … one more aveira …

Story of Ro’i Klein: Israeli soldier cries out Shema Yisrael and threw himself onto the
grenade saving the lives of his fellow soldiers and was buried on his 31st birthday, was
koneh olamo b’sha achas.…

Elly Krimsky
Chagim: Yom Kippur

Key Source: R. Dessler & Meiri-Gm' Avodah Zara 10b, 17b, 18a

Description of Key Source: ‘bacha rebbe’. Rebbe cried because he was awed by how
quickly someone was able to get into olam habah – in one second, while we toil our
whole lives.

Application: We have the opportunity to turn our lives around. That is the gift of
teshuvah

Key Words: teshuvah, Rebbe

Additional Comments: M’harsha on Gemara Avodah Zarah 10b, 17b, 18a. ‘bacha
rebbe’. This differs from R. Dessler and Me’iri. Rebbe cried because it was so profoundly
sad that he entered Olam Habah by cutting the line, not by living a life of Torah and
mitzvos. According to this, the greatest life is the one of constant commitment, not those
who commit a great act to achieve immortality.

Elly Krimsky

Chagim: Yom Kippur

Key Source: Drashos of R. Avigdor Nebenzahl on Yom Kippur

Description of Key Source: If teshuva is returning? To what do we return? a. our

neshama returning to the kisei hakavod b. to Sinai – to matan Torah, to Naaseh
v’nishmah c. our childhood – when we were sinless, just born

Application: ‘Everything I know I learned in kindergarten’ by Robert Fulgham – talking

childhood and adulthood and life’s lessons.

Key Words: teshuvah, childhood, return

Marc Spivak

Chagim: Yom Kippur

Key Source: Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapiro (the Pieszesner Rebbe), also known by
his famous work Esh Kodesh

Description of Key Source: What Rabbi Shapiro is saying is that in life there are certain
things that touch the soul and we feel moved by them. Now it is up to us, how are we
going to react to that movement. If we take the time and effort to stop and appreciate that
feeling and try to understand it, it might take us incredible directions. It might change our
lives in ways we never dreamt possible. However, if we block it out through the
distractions or noise of the world, we will never know what we have lost.
Application: Every yom kippur we are given a choice when we come to shul. How are
we going to react to the stimulus of the day. The halacha does it’s best to block out any
distraction, we can’t eat or focus on any of our bodily needs. We are not allowed to talk
in shul. We have a unique opportunity to let the emotions of the text and the voice of the
chazzan move you. You are not allowed to talk but if you do all you are doing is adding
in noise and breaking those cherished moments of focus and to be moved. You have 25
hours, stop and appreciate the music.

Suggested key words: Music

Additional Comments: The key to this speech is the intro: I recently came across an
article detailing a fascinating experiment conducted by Washington Post. The whole
experiment can actually be seen on YouTube. The experiment was interested in analyzing
whether or not people would recognize beauty in their normal environment. So the post
asked Joshua Bell, who is considered as one of the world’s greatest violinists and just a
week before his show sold out at Boston Symphony Hall at $100 for the cheapest tickets,
to stand in the D.C. metro station, wearing jeans, a tee shirt and a baseball cap with his
case on the floor for donations, and playing Mozart and Shubert on a $3 million
Stradivarius. You can see on the video in the hour he played over a 1000 people streamed
by and almost no one took notice. Only two people stopped to listen at all and only one
recognized what greatness stood before her. Only one person was able to appreciate the
beauty through the commotion and chaos around her.

Yehoshua Grunstein

Chag: Yom Kippur

Key Source: Shulchan Aruch OC 610/4 in the Rama based on Hagahot-Maimoniyot

Shevitat Haasor Chapter 7

Description of Key Source: Wearing a Kittel/Shrouds on Yom-Kippur allows you to

think…about what you want the Rabbi to say about you in your eulogy. This way, you
can plan where you will want to invest your time and effort for the coming year [in its
proper perspective].

Application: It's like "coaching" in business; Plan the vision of what you want to
achieve/to be said at your future eulogy and then take your planner out and start making
your meetings for the year.

Suggested key words: Eulogy, coaching, legacy, thinking of death as a life builder,
Kittel, Yizkor