In the beginning of this weeks Parsha, Rashi cites Chazal who derive from the word B’haalotecha, which is connected to alah, go up, that there was an elevation before the Menorah in the Bait HaMikdash. The Kohen would ascend those steps in order to kindle the lamps. I once heard a profound homiletic rendering of this Chazal. Not only was
Read more
This week’s second parasha starts off with the commandment to be holy. Why? Not because it’s logical or moral, but rather, simply because Hashem himself is holy. דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am
Read more
There are 53,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County. Out of those 53,000, over 9,000 of them became homeless in the last year (“The State of Homeless”). This rising homeless problem takes place on a global level but needs to be dealt with at a local level. Living in a city such as Los Angeles, where taxes are higher than
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H When Haman was promoted to second-in-command, the king ordered that every passerby must bow down to him. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 61b) explains that it was halachically permissible to comply with this edict, for there was no issue of actual idolatry involved. As a result,
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H Hashem told Moshe: “Speak to Bnei Yisrael and they shall take for Me a contribution (for the construction of the Mishkan)” (Shemot 25:2). The Rabbis note that we would expect the pasuk to say, “They shall give to Me a donation” – not take
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H The great revelation at Sinai was a most significant moment in the experience of communication. The event is described as an experience like “eating and drinking;” a real, live, enjoyable experience. Moshe, the leader of the people, achieved an even greater level of communication
Read more
In 2019 – when I first started at the VT Scroll as the Opinion Editor – I wrote a relatively bulky article titled “UBI: An Unexpected Antidote”. In it, I discussed the merits of universal basic income as a replacement for the current welfare regime – particularly in how it could reduce bureaucracy. Notably, I argued at the time that
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H R’ Shlomo Brevda z”l (1931-2013); Maggid and author, noted for his commentaries on the teachings of the Vilna Gaon z”l) writes: Parashat Yitro describes the most important event in human history–the Giving of the Torah. Why is the Parashah that includes that seminal event
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H “And the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael complained against Moshe and Aaron in the wilderness.” Shemot 16:2 Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that the very fact that the Jews registered a complaint about whether they would have provisions in the desert was a sign of
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H ” יִשָּׂשכָ֖ר חֲמֹ֣ר גָּ֑רֶם רֹבֵ֖ץ בֵּ֥ין הַֽמִּשְׁפְּתָֽיִם׃” Pashas Bereshis, Perek 49, Passuk 14-(בראשית פרק מ״ט פסוק יד) Parshas Vayechi contains the final blessings that Yaakov gave to each of his sons prior to his death. In his blessing to the tribe of Yissochar, whose
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H When Yosef ’s brothers returned home and informed Yaakov that he was still alive and was the viceroy in Egypt, Yaakov’s first response was one of disbelief. However, when he saw the wagons that Yosef sent, Yaakov became convinced that they were telling the
Read more
For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H The miracle of Chanukah was that the Chashmonaim found oil that was sufficient for the lighting of the Menorah for one night, and HaShem made a miracle and the oil burned for eight nights. Rabbi Benyomin Adler writes how the Sfat Emet (Chanukah 5631
Read more
In the first week of September, the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) announced the restart of the National Mock Trial Competition. This year the CRF announced that while the organization is not canceling the competition due to COVID-19, they will complete the competition via Zoom. What this meant for David Kerendian (’22) and I (’22), co-captains of the VTHS boys’ team,
Read more
In 2014 a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies placed the annual global cost of corruption at over a trillion United States dollars. For context, that accounted for 1.3 percent of global GDP in 2014. Years later, a 2018 report issued by the World Economic Forum estimated corruption consumed 5 percent of global GDP. While estimates vary
Read more
It has been nearly three weeks since election day 2020 and more than two weeks since the race was called by major media sites, but only today can president-elect Joe Biden officially begin the presidential transition process. The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent U.S. government agency that helps manage the functioning of most federal agencies in America. The transition of
Read more
” וַיֵּצֵ֤א הָרִאשׁוֹן֙ אַדְמוֹנִ֔י כֻּלּ֖וֹ כְּאַדֶּ֣רֶת שֵׂעָ֑ר וַיִּקְרְא֥וּ שְׁמ֖וֹ עֵשָֽׂו וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֞ן יָצָ֣א אָחִ֗יו וְיָד֤וֹ אֹחֶ֙זֶת֙ בַּעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְיִצְחָ֛ק בֶּן־שִׁשִּׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּלֶ֥דֶת אֹתָֽם (בראשית פרק כה פסוקים כה-כו) For the eternal merit to the soul of my grandfather Yitzchak Aziz Ben Mashallah Hacohen A”H After Eisav emerged from Rivkah’s womb, Yaakov came out after him holding on to
Read more
The earlier half of October saw the European Parliament – a legislature elected by citizens of European Union member states – vote on a resolution which, amongst other items, called for a ban on unpaid internships. The vote passed with eight-two percent in favor, eleven percent opposed, and the remainder abstaining. The resolution emphatically condemns unpaid internships as a violation
Read more
In October 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic 7 game World Series to take home the first championship in their 55 year history. Led by MVP Jose Altuve, former 1st overall pick Carlos Correa, and World Series MVP George Springer, the Astros won 101 games in the 2017 regular season, their best season in
Read more
As a high school student now trying to apply to college, we all face a similar situation due to COVID-19: should we take the SAT or ACT? Because of the Global Pandemic, the College Board and American College Testing organizations, creators of these standardized tests, asked colleges for the upcoming year to be sympathetic to high schoolers and acknowledge that
Read more
This article was written by Moshe Khoshbakhsh (’22) contributor at the Valley Torah Scroll. And Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your
Read more
Although a host of other events have been canceled due to COVID, the Valley Torah blood drive remains – now more important than ever. In an ordinary year, fewer than 38 percent of the population is eligible to donate blood or platelets – a number which has shrunk as COVID renders many unable to donate due to health concerns. While
Read more
This article was produced with the contributions of MN and AN Over the past year, many new classes and opportunities for students to expand their educations have arrived on the Valley Torah campus, including a Computer Programming class taught by Mr. Chris Bradfield. The decision was to make it a part of the available electives for the ninth and tenth
Read more
Parshat Pekudei is well known as one of the most descriptive Parshiot in the Torah, especially with regards to the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). When delving into the Parsha itself, the first Possuk (verse) of the Torah appears to have a blatant redundancy where it says “אלה פקודי המשכן, משכן העדת” (translation: These are the accounts of the Mishkan,
Read more
Welcome back to The Sofer’s Station! The second month of Adar has arrived! Being that one of the four mitzvot of Purim, celebrated this month, is to read the Megillah, the next couple of articles will briefly talk about important “ingredients” in writing a Megillah, specifically Megillat Esther. These “ingredients” will be scrutinized in detail in later articles. As mentioned
Read more
After lunch on December 20th, Valley Torah students assembled in the Beis Medrash for an extremely unique presentation. Continuing in its yearly tradition, Valley Torah invited Mr. Ben Shapiro, a prominent, local Orthodox Jew to give a presentation. Mr. Shapiro is a man of many great talents. At the age of 17, he wrote the first of his many books
Read more
Unless you have been living under a very large rock there is no doubt you have heard the term “snowflake”—a derogatory term placed on someone who gets easily offended. Commonly used to put down people on the left side of the political spectrum, a snowflake believes that they are, for some reason or another, entitled to special treatment. Recently, however,
Read more
Of the many events in a Valley Torah Student’s career, one that can’t be missed is the annual winter Shabbaton. Much like all of the other meticulously planned school events, the Shabbaton has been designed for decades by our Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Stulberger, and graciously executed by Rabbi Semmel and other administrators over the times, as a weekend where students
Read more
In the month of January, many of us get reminiscent about the previous year. With American politics as crazy as they now are, let’s take a look at how 2018 treated the state of Israel. The year didn’t start off too well for the Israeli government. Amid allegations of corruption, the government opened an investigation into Prime Minister Netanyahu’s affairs
Read more
Hello and welcome to the Sofer’s Station! One thing that I am currently studying is how to become a Sofer סת״ם (Stam). סת״ם stands for ספר תורה, תפילין, ומזוזות (Sefer Torah, Tefillin, and Mezuzah). A Sofer סת״ם writes these holy objects. There are many different halachot when dealing with the halachot of סת״ם. I will be writing the Halachic section
Read more
The new baseball season is approaching quickly and there’s a lot to look forward to this year for the Valley Torah Wolfpack. Returning players such as Eli Solomon (‘19) and Yosee Kreitenberg (‘20) have been recently appointed captains and look to lead the team to their first playoff berth in three years. Both Eli and Yosee have been playing since
Read moreThis story was told to me by Rabbi Paysach Krohn, and I would like to share it with you all. This story follows a certain rabbi, Rav Shraga Shmuel Schnitzler.
Read more
Ater a long hiatus, Valley Torah is proud to announce the founding of its new newspaper, The Valley Torah Scroll.
Read more
The Glouberman Tournament is over and the varsity basketball regular season is already underway. So far the team has a record of 7-3.
Read moreExpensive shoes forced on my vagabond feet Drag me on their own pilgrimage. Royal clothing shield my longing heart From the people whom hold my friendship. Free me. Free my soul. Free my path. Release me to my people.
Read more
The Torah in Parashat Korah delineates the twenty-four “Matenot Kehuna” – gifts that the Kohanim are to receive from the rest of the nation. After listing all the various gifts, G-d commands Moshe to tell Aharon that these gifts are a “Berit Melah Olam” – literally, “an eternal covenant of salt” (18:19). Different approaches have been taken to explain the
Read more
Viewpoints can be found throughout our nation’s history, whether it’d be Avraham’s viewpoints on who the master of the world is down to who the Jews thought should be king after Shlomo Hamelech’s passing. From explaining why some people did a certain action down to how they view the world, subjectivity is crucial in developing a person. While Hakadosh Baruch
Read more
Our Rabbis teach us that everything written in the Torah is recorded because of its relevance to every Jew in every generation. Why are the seemingly trivial details which dominate Parshat Naso, such as the arrangement of the encampments of the various tribes, significant and relevant to us? Rav Aharon Kotler suggests that although this information seems like historical facts
Read more
In response to recent anti-Semitic incidents that have taken place in major cities across the globe, including New York, London, Paris, Jerusalem, and my hometown of Los Angeles, a quote from a 16th-century play by William Shakespeare comes to mind. In the first scene of the third act of Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare conveyed an unprecedented message
Read more
This past Thursday, May 13, 2021, Valley Torah students gathered in the outdoor Beis Midrash tent for a talk with world-renowned physicist Dr. Chaim Presby regarding an array of topics ranging from his work with fiber-optics to his viewpoint on macroevolution and intelligent design. Dr. Presby is a senior lecturer for outreach programs associated with Gateways and has been a
Read more
This week’s parsha delineates the various responsibilities of the Levi’im. “And the assignment of Elazar ben Aaron HaKohein is the oil of illumination, the spices of the incense, the daily flour offering and the anointment oil” (Bamidbar 4, 16). Rashi cites the Gemara Yerushalmi which explains that Elazar was not merely charged with overseeing that the above items were transferred
Read more
Although this article will be discussing punishments, it is still heartbreaking to witness a tragic incident. Along with the rest of the Jewish nation, I am devastated because of the horrific events of last week’s Meron tragedy. May it be the last tragedy the Jewish nation ever faces. Bechukotai has more Psukim discussing curses than blessings. Specifically, while the list
Read more
Amid an unprecedented hiatus in its group activity, the Valley Torah Chesed Club has decided to end off this disaster-trotted year with as many community service projects as possible- and remarkable ones too. The National Foundation for Cancer Research reports that approximately one person is diagnosed with blood cancer every 3 minutes, just in the United States. In 2020 alone, an estimated
Read more
The Valley Torah Scroll 