Themes of Featured Articles

The entire creation was contained in G-d's first "utterance", following which the entire creation became revealed and developed stage by stage, day by day, until it achieved its present form.

This was necessary to fulfill the purpose of creation of reward and punishment. By the initial utterance descending into the remaining nine, it became a coarse material world and man become imbued with a yetzer hara and passions for material things.

Everything must come precisely at its right and proper time. Just as it is the way of the Shabbat to come specifically after six weekdays, so it was with the creation of the world: Although G-d knew that the activity (of Creation) would be better than its absence, His will nevertheless opposed His knowledge and was carried out when the proper time came.

"Ten miracles were done for our forefathers in the Temple...never did a snake or scorpion do harm in Jerusalem…"

The miracle was not that here were no scorpions and snakes in Jerusalem at all. On the contrary, they continued to occupy their usual habitats, and even harmed animals. However, they did no harm to the Jewish people.

Korach rebelled against the very institution of Shabbat, described as a divine gift. While he could appreciate the Festivals [called "mo'adim" in Hebrew] as occasions which celebrated events that occurred to the Jewish People and his cohorts were known as "those summoned for mo'ed", he disputed the notion that G-d could grant us this day of rest, the Shabbat.

During the hundreds of years the Temple stood, the Jewish people experienced ten open miracles, including the fact that no unclean emission ever befell the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. This was a clear indication that the putrid drop of semen from which human life originates (mentioned by Rabbi Akavya) has been rehabilitated for another year.