PARSHAS VAYISHLACH 5780
“STAM TORAH” PARSHAS VAYISHLACH 5780 “WHAT’S IN A NAME?” Rabbi Elya Ber Wachtfogel related that over sixty years ago his father, Rabbi Nosson zt”l, recounted the following: During the early days of Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, one of the talmidim related that he had an intriguing dream. In his dream, he was […]
PARSHAS VAYETZEI 5780
“STAM TORAH” PARSHAS VAYETZEI 5780 “THE ESSENCE OF LOVE” One summer day, two friends, Larry and Scott, went on a fishing trip. It was a beautiful day and they enjoyed the sunshine beating down on their heads as they cast their lines into the ocean. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive wave lifted […]
PARSHAS TOLDOS 5780
STAM TORAH PARSHAS TOLDOS 5780 “THE FIRE WITHIN” An Israeli journalist once asked a ba’al teshuva who he felt was greater, the little Yerushalmi children in Me’ah Shearim who have never had exposure to contemporary society, or he, who had reformed his entire life? The journalist assumed that the ba’al teshuva would reply that […]
CHAYEI SARAH 5780
STAM TORAH CHAYEI SARAH 5780 “THE GIFT OF GIVING” When my wife and I got engaged, my father enjoyed telling people that we did so primarily because we liked the fact that our names rhymed – “Dani and Chani” has a great ring to it. But the truth is that there was another reason […]
PARSHAS LECH LECHA 5780
STAM TORAH PARSHAS LECH LECHA 5780[1] “RELATABLE GREATNESS” The eleventh of Cheshvan is the yahrtzeit of Rochel Imainu. It is also the yahrteizt of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt’l, one of the most inspiring Torah leaders of our time. Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel once related the now well-known story with Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz […]
PARSHAS NOACH 5780
PARSHAS NOACH 5780 – Rabbi Dani Staum “IN DUE TIME” After forty days, the flood rains stopped. At that point the Ark was submerged in water and the inhabitants of the Ark would have to wait until the ground dried before they could leave the Ark and repopulate the world. “And he waited […]
Dear Stam Torah Faithful עמו״ש
Dear Stam Torah Faithful עמו״ש, I began writing Stam Torah when I was still a bochur (before I was married). During the years when I was in Fordham graduate school pursuing my master’s in social work, I took a hiatus from sending the weekly divrei Torah but began again soon afterwards. In recent years, I […]
YOM KIPPUR 5780
STAM TORAH YOM KIPPUR 5780 “FAILING OF FAILURE”[1] Rabbi Fishel Schachter relates: I have a friend who struggled with his weight for years. He was constantly trying different diets to manage his weight issues, but he hadn’t been successful for any extended period with any of them. Then, at one point, […]
ROSH HASHANAH 5780
STAM TORAH ROSH HASHANAH 5780 “JOY OF POWERLESSNESS”[1] It’s the first day of the new z’man[2] and the new Mashgiach[3] is addressing the yeshiva students for the first time. He explains to them that the yeshiva will be implementing a k’nas (monetary fine) system for students who come late or miss shachris in […]
PARSHAS KI SAVO 5779
STAM TORAH PARSHAS KI SAVO 5779 “ON MY SHOULDERS”[1] During the early hours of March 13, 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was stabbed outside an apartment building across the street from where she lived in Queens, NY. Genovese was then chased by her assailant and attacked three times in the street, over the course of a half […]