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 »Simchat Torah: Start Again
A Page Turner
When was the last time you spent an entire year reading a two thousand-page novel and then launched into a second reading of it on the very day you finished? When was the last time you spent an entire year reading this novel for the second time and …
Rosh Hashanah and January First
Remarkably Different
The Rosh Hashanah celebrations differ greatly from those of the secular new Year. The first of January is a time for parties, Rosh Hashanah is welcomed with sounding the Shofar, somber prayers, and sobering thoughts.
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Rosh Hashanah: The mystery of Good and Evil
L'Shana Tova
On Rosh Hashana, Jews traditionally greet each other with the words L’shana Tova Tikatev Vetichatem, May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. It is interesting to note that we don’t wish for a year of happiness or health, peace or serenity, freedom or fulfillment, pleasure or …
Passover: He Does not Abandon
Where Is G-d?
There was once a young, fun loving, boy full of vigor and spunk. One day, having acted up during Hebrew School, the boy was called into the rabbi’s office. From under his heavy eyebrows, the rabbi’s deep-set eyes peered out at the child. In a soft but firm …
New Year Greeting 5761: The Passage of Time
A Year in London Ontario
As the New Year approaches it is time
to sit back and reflect upon the past twelve months and all that has
transpired therein. From a personal perspective, Basie and I look back
to a wonderful period of settling in, meeting new friends and being
warmly accepted into the London …
High Holiday Season: A Time for Prayer
Turning To G-d
The High Holiday season is observed throughout Jewish world with fervor, reverence and awe. To Jews, it is a time for prayer and supplication, repentance and return, and most importantly, judgment and justice.
We hope that our entreaties are heard and our needs fulfilled, that our sins are pardoned …
Passover: Freedom from Limitation
Throughout the World
Passover commemorates the exodus of the ancient Hebrew slaves from Egypt, their subsequent forty-year journey through the desert, and their ultimate entry into Israel, the Promised Land.
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Passover: Journey Forth
Four Schools of Thought
As our ancestors stood poised before the Red Sea, an argument broke out and in true Jewish fashion there was more then one school of thought. The Midrash describes the four different schools of thought that prevailed. (a) Fatalism – Let’s drown ourselves in the sea (b) …
Parsha Insights »
Chukat: Miracles
Two Wars
Why don’t we see miracles in our time similar to the miracles our ancestors saw in Biblical times? I would think that if G-d were to show his hand today, it would inspire billions to believe in Him. He did this back then, why not again?
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Yearly Cycle »
New Year Greeting: Growing Up
New Year Greeting: Growing Up
A new year is upon us. One year chases another, one decade follows the next. Our lives unfold, our circumstances evolve, but how about us? Do we grow as well or are we stinted in our spiritual and emotional growth?
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Concepts »
Vayera: Too Perfect?
Is “too perfect” a thing? Have you ever worried about being too perfect? Most of us worry that we aren’t perfect enough. But I know of at least one person who worried about being too perfect. Our collective grandfather, Abraham.
The Torah tells us that Abraham recovered from his circumcision in …
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 …
