Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz

'This world is not mine. It existed before me and will continue after me...I have entered, as a guest, into a perfect system run by God.'

Don’t aim for lofty, angelic separation “like Mine” but live a human holiness – the kind of life for which I created the world.

Just as a bad word can destroy, a good word can build – and that, after all, is the purpose of creation: “The world will be built with kindness.”

Our portion lists four animals that lack one of the two signs of purity. The midrash associates these four animals with the four exiles the Jewish people have experienced over the generations.

In the formative process of the exodus, the Jewish people leave a land that represents the height of pride, and they journey to a land of humility.

Why should one see themselves as if they personally left Egypt? Because it's the essence of redemption: giving everyone, no matter his situation, the inner strength of faith, hope, joy, serenity.

Someone who sins is meant to bring something of himself – his heart and emotions – and to experience a sense of closeness to God and love for Him through the offering.

Nothing in the Torah is superfluous. From every word – and even from each letter – our sages derived halachic rulings or ethical teachings.

look at the beauty of the Temple, built in harmony and generosity, and let this be the foundation of your own home – built on love and overflowing kindness.

On Purim, let us rise above logic. Let us stand before our father in heaven and cry out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”