Over the past week, we have seen anti-Israel college takeovers with protestors openly declaring their desire to kill Jews and to render Israel—from the river to the sea—Juden Rein. The brazen tactics and bullying have left many Jewish students and faculty members afraid to venture onto campus. As we approach …
Read the full story »An Echo
This week’s Parsha recounts the Ten Commandments. The Torah tells us that the commandments were delivered in “a powerful voice that was never repeated.” Our sages explain that this voice did not have an echo. Why is the absence of an echo important?
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The Purpose
In this week’s Parsha Moshe recounts the history of our ancestors in the desert and reminds them of their life’s purpose.
I once received an email with the following question: Dear G-d, why did you create me, as a material being? Was it so I would live my life …
Translating Torah
Thirty – seven days before his passing Moses set out to teach the Torah. You might think that Moses would use his remaining weeks to teach hitherto unrevealed mysteries, but he did no such thing. Instead he translated the Torah into seventy languages. (1)
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Anxiety Brought us Together
Disaster is the parent of opportunity. When the normal and routine are shattered, when calm and confidence are shaken, the patterns of life are altered and new opportunities are born.
It remains to us to convert these opportunities into reality. It remains to us to grasp that, if we …
Past and Future
During the upcoming Hebrew month of Tamuz, Jews around the world will observe a three-week semi mourning period marking the destruction of the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
It has been close to two thousand years since the destruction of the Temple and every year on this day Jews …
A Kind Suffering
The Hebrew word Chessed, kindness, has a numeric value of seventy-two. Kabbalah teaches that the last seventy-two days of the Hebrew calendar year are permeated with Chessed, divine benevolence. This period begins on the seventeenth day of the Hebrew month, Tamuz.
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Asaf’s Perspective
On the ninth day of the Hebrew month Av, we fast and mourn as we mark the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash in the year 69 CE. A story is told of Asaf, a Levite and the choirmaster at the holy temple. He was renowned for his music and …
The Fifth Book
The first four books of the Torah are presented, as a narrative by G-d, the fifth book, Devarim, is a narrative by Moses.
According to one opinion that Moses first conveyed his message to the Jewish people orally and was later commanded by G-d to transcribe the words and …