Yonaton Behar

The memory of the Holocaust must be leveraged for rehabilitation and progress, especially as long as the public commemorates Holocaust Day in the month of Nisan, which is not a time for grief, but of building * The Jewish people have not yet reached its numerical dimensions before the Holocaust – instead of 18 million … Read more

The Egyptian nation represented materialism and enslavement to the body, and consequently invested resources in the pyramids and mummification of the dead, and exploited slaves for pleasure and gratification * To this day courageousness is required to free oneself from enslavement to materialism and not to submit to the dictates of society * On the … Read more

The sale of chametz began due to the distress of whiskey merchants in Europe * After the rabbis established the sale of chametz for merchants, the custom expanded to the general public * Today, the sale of chametz is essential for the marketplace, and for the food industry * Despite the claims that this is … Read more

Summary of the controversy over tiny insects: According to the rules of halakha one should act leniently, but because of modern technology heightening our awareness of tiny insects, and providing options for identifying and exterminating them, there is room for the stringent opinion as well * The middle approach:  Do the normal actions required to … Read more

The prevailing definition that it is permissible to eat an insect that cannot be seen by the human eye is not sufficient to determine halakha, since eyesight depends on many factors * The halachic authorities throughout the generations did not require certain fruits and vegetables, in which a fear of small insects exists, to be … Read more

The question of whether flour which might contain insects needs to be sifted is subject to dispute – in practice, the poskim instructed flour should be sifted * If flour that was not checked for worms was baked, after-the-fact, the food may be eaten * Even according to the strict method, if one does not … Read more

The tendency to send as many Mishloach Manot as possible and participate with as many friends as possible in the Purim seudah, stems from a positive desire to create and strengthen relationships * However, friendship does not end on Purim: Even those who send less Mishloach Manot and invite less relatives or friends to eat, … Read more

The spiritual world is devised from various dimensions – including those of mysticism and imagination, and in contrast, intellectual dimensions * In mystical dimensions, forces of good and evil appear as angels opposite demons, and in intellectual dimensions, they appear as positive and negative ideas * Rabbinic ordinances regarding demons and evil spirits were said … Read more

It is difficult to know whether the current state of prayer is on the rise or decline, but one change has definitely occurred – today we are more open to speaking candidly about prayer * After years of dealing with the halachot of prayer, the time has come to deal more with its value and … Read more

Today, many people find prayer difficult – it’s hard to concentrate, prayers are irrelevant, and they are too long * The difficulties raise serious questions: Is there a discrepancy between prayer and our everyday lives? * Prayer itself cannot be altered, but changes do occur in minhagim that are not strict halakha, and thus, there … Read more