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 …
Education, Noach »
Noah: Spiritual Care
Our sages were critical of Noah because he did failed to provide spiritual care for the people of his generation. Noah was a righteous man and worthy of rescue from the flood, but never once did Noah plead with G-d, let alone demand from G-d, to spare the people of his generation.
In Yiddish there is a saying, a tzadik in pelz, which means to be pious in a pelt. A pelt is an animal skin that has been stripped for tanning. When it is cold outdoors you can warm yourself in two ways. One is to drape yourself in a pelt (or more accurately the fur coat made from the pelt), the other is to build a fire. The difference is that a pelt, only warms you. A fire also warms others. Read the full story »
Bereshit: Long Life
In many communities it is customary to wish one another ‘long life’ after a funeral or in a house of mourning. In the simple sense it is a wish for longevity, in the deeper sense it means that our lives should be long–filled with achievements that outlast our lifetimes.
This brings …
Simchat Torah: Pure Joy
For ten days we prayed, self examined, and repented. This introspection reached its zenith on Yom Kippur, when we set ourselves and our comforts aside and focused solely on G-d. We didn’t eat or drink, we rejected creature comforts, and spent the day wrapped up in supplication.
At this point G-d …
Sukkot: Palm Frond
The Palm frond is the tallest and most visible of the four species that we waive during the festival of Sukkot. So much does the Palm frond stand out that it is perceived as the signature piece of the four species. When referring to the four species, one often describes …
Rosh Hashanah Shabbat Shuva: On Credit
A Year on Credit?
Everyone knows that the last festival of the High Holidays season is Simchat Torah when we dance around the Bimah with the Torah in a ceremony called Hakafot. But did you know that hakafot is not only the mark Simchat Torah, the last holiday of the High …
Nitzavim: Democracy in Israel
Is Israel a democracy or a theocracy? Here is the story:
The Tel Aviv municipality and the Ayalon Highway Company plan to build a new pedestrian and cycling bridge that would cross the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, one of the country’s most congested freeways.
The Ayalon Highway Company planned to shut …
Ki Tavo: Onward to Israel
Israel is our homeland. It is a holy and G-dly land on which G-d keeps a very careful eye. Our sages taught that the very air one breathes in Israel makes one wise to the ways of Torah. Our sages used to bend to kiss the stones of Israel when …
Ki Tetze: No Big Deal
It’s just one small infraction, no big deal.
This is a common argument that we hear often, but only in our own heads. We would never be brazen enough to justify our infractions to others with this argument, but we say it to ourselves.
Suppose, you are leaving a hotel and want …
Shoftim: City of Refuge
The Torah tells us that in the messianic era when the land of Israel will expand beyond the borders enjoyed by our ancestors, it will become necessary to designate three more cities of refuge to provide sanction for inadvertent killers. When a Jew killed another inadvertently, the Torah allows the …
Parsha Insights »
Vayechi: Food for Thought at your Dinner Table
Sunday: Jacob Lived
Many Torah commentaries have concluded based on the verse, “And Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years,” that Jacob’s best years, the years that he truly lived, were the ones he spent in Egypt. How did Jacob, a man devoted to G-d, enjoy living in so depraved a …
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 »
Ki Tetze: A Happy Marriage
Marriage
Having attended two weddings this month and planning to attend two more next month, marriage is no doubt on my mind. Everyone says that marriage is hard work, yet at a wedding, when an innocent young man and woman are initiated into an endless cycle of hard work, we rejoice …
Rabbi’s Desk »
Festival Shabbat: Show Respect
United Airlines
Social media is abuzz with the terrible story that occurred on United Airlines several days ago. Dr, Dao, a 69 year old physician on a flight from Chicago to Louisville, was physically dragged off a plane after being beaten by three police officers. The physician’s crime was refusing to …
