When G-d disciplines us, the pain is real—but it is born of love. When He gives freely, we feel His kindness. When He withholds or corrects, His love is less visible—but in truth, it runs even deeper.
Read the full story »Tzav: Birchat Hachamah – When the Sun Sings Again
A Unique Event
On Wednesday morning, April 8, 2009, Jews around the world recited a blessing over the sun that was last recited in twenty-eight years ago. This blessing is recited when the sun returns to its point of origin, where it was when it was first created. Though the sun …
Vayikra: Humble Gratitude
The AIG Scandal
After accepting a one-hundred-and-sixty-billion dollar bailout from the United States Government, American Insurance Group distributed more than a hundred-million dollars in bonuses and retention fees to its employees; a move that infuriated the congress and the American Public.
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Vayakhel Pekudei: Unity in giving
Greed and Generosity
In Fiddler On The Roof, a film filled with memorable moments, the scene of Perchick’s proclamation, “Money is the world’s curse” and Tevye’s defiant reply, “May the Lord smite me with it,” stands out as prominent. Indeed, money is the source of humanity’s greatest friction. Most marital disputes …
Ki Tisa: Grappling with Evil
Durban II
The United States has announced that it will not attend the United Nation’s second conference on Anti Racism dubbed Durban II. You might recall that the United States and Israel walked out of the first Anti Racism conference in 2001 when it turned into an evil hate fest of …
Tetzaveh / Zachor: Combating The Skeptic
Skepticism
A debate is currently raging in campuses across the country about binge drinking. Some believe the solution lies in stricter enforcement of existing laws against underage drinking. Others argue that enforcement will simply drive the drinkers underground. They prefer to reduce the minimum drinking age and to combat the problem …
Terumah: Charity In A Failing Economy
Trimming Excess
For most of us the failing economy has translated only into worry and rhetoric. Though unemployment is up and many homes have been lost most of us still have bread on our tables and Cable TV in our bedrooms. But there one sector that is already feeling the pinch, …
Mishpatim: The Baby’s World
Early Months
The moment my daughter emerged from the womb and took in her new surroundings was magical for us as parents. We were enamored with her and clutched her close to our hearts, but she was oblivious. She never acknowledged her parents, she simply slept. Over the last few days …
Tu Bishvat: Economic Blessings
Full Moon
The fifteenth day of every lunar month, when the moon is at its fullest, is a day of celebration. From that point forward the moon’s size diminishes slightly every night until it disappears. The curious point is that the moon neither grows nor shrinks. Its light is neither dimmed …
Parsha Insights »
Pekudei: An Arresting Question
A Final Accounting
The previous three Torah portions dealt with the specifications for building the Tabernacle and its holy vestments. In this portion a very important detail: is contributed – a calculation of the total sum of donations received for the cause.
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Yearly Cycle »
Nitzavim Vayelech: The Key is Education
Returning The Keys
When the marauding Babylonian army broke into the Temple they found priests going about their sacred duties in ecclesiastic devotion. Some prepared meal offerings, others stoked the altar’s flames, yet others inspected logs to ensure their perfection. Outside the battle raged, but inside, the worship continued without distraction.
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Concepts »
Nitzavim: Get Out Of Jail
Two Poles
The Torah section that we read each year on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah, begins with the words “You all stand this day before the Lord, your God, the leaders of your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel, your young ones, your women, and your …
Rabbi’s Desk »
What Can We Do?
These past two days have been the most difficult for our people in the last fifty years. It was Simchat Torah, a time for rejoicing, yet it was a time of horror. Nearly a thousand members of our family were brutally murdered, more than a hundred were taken hostage, and …
