Year
תשפ״ז5787
Rosh Hashana – Moments of Silence
The essay asks why the Torah anticipated years of זכרון תרועה (Rosh Hashana on Shabbos, without shofar) alongside years of יום תרועה, and why the Medrash links זכרון תרועה specifically to Yitzchok Avinu. Drawing on R' Yonasan Shteif, it explains that Avrohom drew people under the wings of the Shechinah through reasoning and outreach, while Yitzchok did so through Torah and Avodah itself, which sustain the world. The shofar parallels Avrohom's external arousal to teshuva, while on Rosh Hashana that falls on Shabbos the added kedusha of the day allows the Yitzchok path — Torah and Avodah alone — to awaken us, teaching us to recognize the inherent power of our own avodas Hashem in sustaining the world.
Medrash
The New World
The essay explores why the אִישׁ עִתִּי who leads the שָׂעִיר הַמִּשְׁתַּלֵּחַ becomes tamei — a paradox the Midrash attributes to the Yetzer Harah's challenge and answers with the word חֹק — and why he becomes tamei already upon leaving the walls of Yerushalayim. Drawing on Rav Hutner's teaching that תְּשׁוּבָה is a בְּרִיָּה חֲדָשָׁה created through the שֵׁם הֲוַי׳ (אֲנִי הוּא לְאַחַר שֶׁיֶּחְטָא הָאָדָם), the author explains that Yom Kippur's avodah carries an element of חֹק because teshuva operates by its own logic beyond human categories. Simultaneously, the derasha from the same words that the avodah must follow the prescribed order teaches that this supra-rational gift is accessible only through the path the Torah sets out.
Medrash