Parsha with Rabbi David Bibi

There are people who have everything—and feel like they have nothing. And there are people with very little—who live with a deep sense of richness. What’s the difference? Not circumstance. Not opportunity. A mindset. In this week’s parashah, Tazria, the Torah introduces a halachah that seems technical—but reveals something profound: you cannot live beneath who you are. A person’s offering must reflect their true capacity, not what is convenient, not what others bring, but what they themselves are capable of becoming.   In this episode of Breakfast & a Class, we explore the hidden poverty thatChazal warn about—“אין עני אלא בדעת”—and uncover how the way we see ourselves shapes everything: our relationships, our growth, even our avodat Hashem. Through powerful stories and practical insight, this class will challenge you to rethink what it means to be “rich,” and why the greatest loss in life is notwhat we lack—but what we fail to recognize within ourselves.  

Something powerful lingers after Pesaḥ—but it’s easy to lose it as life returns to normal. In this morning’s breakfast and a class, we take one pasuk from yesterday’s Haftarah—“he will not judge by what his eyes see”—and uncover a stunning idea from Chazal: that Mashiaḥ will judge through re’ach, through a kind of spiritual “fragrance.” What does that mean? And how does it connect to the sea splitting when it “saw” the bones of Yosef? This episode reveals a deeper way of seeing reality—not through surfaces, but through essence. Through Torah sources, Midrash, and powerful contemporary stories, we explore what it means to look at another person—and even at ourselves—not based on behavior, labels, or first impressions, but through the etsem, the inner truth that never changes. If redemption feels distant, this class offers a bold perspective: perhaps geulah begins when we learn to see the way Mashiaḥ sees.

 As Bnei Yisrael rush out of Egypt in a moment of chaos, fear, and redemption, the Torah pausesto highlight something unexpected: Moshe searching—not for gold, not for provisions—but for the bones of Yosef. Why, at the most critical turning point in Jewish history, does the Torah focus on a coffin? And why does that coffin travel side by side with the Aron HaBrit throughout the entire journey in the desert? In our class this morning, we endevor to uncover a powerful and often overlooked truth—thatredemption is not just about leaving a place, but about carrying an identity.   Through the story of Yosef, we discover the secret behind the splitting of the sea, the balance between Torah and action, and the foundation of what it means to remain a Jew in every environment. This is not just a story about the past—it is a blueprint for the present. Because without memory, there is no direction. Andwithout living what we believe, even Torah itself remains incomplete.