You hold in your hands a hidden gem — a sefer whose insights a young Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach would eagerly hear directly from their author. He was so enthralled that he implored Rav Salant to put these powerful lessons into print.

Be’er Yosef is a treasure trove of unique insights on the parashah. The simplest questions, often left unaddressed by earlier authorities, are given the most profound yet intuitive answers. Rav Yosef Tzvi Salant provides a unique combination of his mastery of Midrash with his mesorah from the mussar giant Rav Yitzchak Blazer, the primary student of Rav Yisroel Salanter.

Now available in English for the first time, Rav Salant’s teachings can finally be enjoyed by a greater and varied audience.


“A clear, easy-to-read adaption of the timeless and insightful thoughts of Rav Yosef Salant in his Be’er Yosef on the Torah.”

Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, author and veteran rebbi


“The sefer I personally turn to for meaningful and inspirational ideas on the parashah… A masterful job of explaining the Torah of the Be'er Yosef.”

Rabbi Moshe Don Kestenbaum, Mashgiach, Heichal HaTorah


“Clear and well-written… A great service to those who are unable to read the original.”

Rabbi Yehoshua Kalish, Rav, Bais Medrash of Harborview


Rabbi Refael Wolfe is originally from Ottawa, Canada. He has a Bachelor of Computer Science from Carleton University and a Masters in Talmudic Law from Ner Yisrael Rabbinical College. He has studied in Yeshivas Darche Noam/Shapell’s, Mir Yerushalayim, Ner Yisrael, Baltimore, and Kollel Oholei Yom Tov, Toronto. He currently lives with his family in Yerushalayim and is learning in the Ohr Lagolah Semicha Kollel. He writes a weekly devar Torah email called “Parsha Ponders.” Select pieces from this series have been compiled into a sefer with the same name. Archives of previous emails can be viewed at https://parshaponders.com.