The days of reckoning are here, and it is time for the loving exam. Most exams are associated with tension and trepidation. Irrespective of how well we know the material, proctors do their best to make it stressful. Fear of failure, fear of getting caught cheating, and fear of falling …
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Nitzavim, Rosh Hashanah »
Prove It Or Know It
To prove it or to know it, which is better? Most people would say that being able to prove something is better. Proof is the holy grail. If you have incontrovertible proof, you know it is true. If all you can say is, “I know it is true,” you may or may not be right. In this essay I will argue that to know offers a deeper connection to the truth than to prove.
Think of your parents. Can you prove that they are your parents? Have you ever felt the need to prove it, have you ever even considered your lack of proof? Some things don’t need to be proved because you know they are true. Finding documentation that proves them to be your parents, wouldn’t increase your certainty. You are already as certain as you can possibly be. Read the full story »
Unity With Differences
Which is better, unity with differences or unity without differences? Most people would say unity without differences is better, but Judaism underlines unity with differences.
An ancient Jewish ritual called bikurim, saw Jews bring an annual basket of fruit from their homesteads to Jerusalem. These baskets were placed before the altar …
With G-d’s Help
The Torah tells us to appoint judges and guardians at the gates of our cities. The city’s gathering place was usually at the gates, making it the fitting place for the courthouse and police station. However, Jewish scholarship has long maintained that there is a parallel teaching here. We are …
A Month of Refuge
Refuge is discussed often in the Torah. When a Jew killed another inadvertently, he was required to flee to a city of refuge, where he was given asylum from the victim’s relatives. These cities were established throughout the land of Israel to ensure that inadvertent killers had sufficient and easy …
A Life of Seasons
When I lived in California people complained that they missed the seasons. I always wondered about that. Having come from the East Coast, I often told them that if they were looking seasons, I could tell them exactly where to find it. They came to California for sunshine so why …
My Shabbat
Today we have Myoffice, Mydrive, my-everything, so why not My-Shabbat?
At first blush, it ought to be our Shabbat, or most appropriately G-d’s Shabbat. How can we claim Shabbat for ourselves?
The answer is that we each have the capacity to enhance our Shabbat. Our sages wrote that only he who toils …
A Shabbat Fast
It is forbidden to fast on Shabbat. In fact, if we fast on Shabbat (even with halachic sanction) we must fast on a different day to atone for fasting on Shabbat. This is why the fast of Tishah Be’av—the ninth of Av, is postponed when it falls on Shabbat —as …
Life Journeys
We are all on a journey, the journey of life. Although our journeys are similar in many ways, each journey is unique. Have you ever wondered what makes my journey different from yours? What seminal event occurred in our nascent years that made me embark on a different path from …
Fasting And Passover
What do the seventeenth of Tamuz, the ninth of Av, and the first day of Passover have in common? They always fall on the same day of the week.
How does that make any sense? The first day of Passover represents the redemption of our ancestors from Egypt that sparked their …
Parsha Insights »
Lech L’cha: Unhealthy Dependencies
Do you have unhealthy dependencies? Can you give up your smart phone, luxury car, and golf clubs, or have you grown too dependent to let them go? Have you given them power over you?
I am not actually advocating that we give them away. I don’t feel guilty for enjoying the …
Yearly Cycle »
Omer: Daily Steps of Improvement
From Egypt to Sinai
We currently
find ourselves in an intermediary period between the two Jewish
holidays of Passover and Shavuos. On Passover we celebrated the exodus
of our ancestors from Egypt and the birth of our Jewish nation. On
Shavuos we will celebrate the receiving of the Ten commandments at Mt
Sinai.
For two hundred
and ten …
Concepts »
Mishpatim: Why Should I?
The Big Question
A young lady asked me why she should obey G-d’s many instructions in the Torah. She understands that without G-d she would not exist and feels that she owes it to him, but she feels that G-d forced her into this bargain without asking her. Why did He …
Rabbi’s Desk »
The Passing of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
It has been around a year since the world has lost a great leader with the passing of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Who will be his successor?
There will be millions beginning with me and you.
Rabbi Sacks was a unique and leading voice among rabbis in our generation. His keen intellect and …
