Until morning is a phrase of promise and hope. The night is dark and desolate, but it won’t last forever. We might be anxious and fearful, perhaps disappointed and bitter, but it won’t last forever. Until morning. When the morning dawns, the fog will lift, the sun will shine, and …
Read the full story »Shemot: Why They Hate Us
They hate us. Not for anything we do or did. They just hate us. The past month saw a near-daily rash of attacks against Jews. These weren’t isolated attacks by right-wing radicals and white supremacists. These were attacks by ordinary members of the black community against Jews in New York. …
Vayechi: A Symbol of Hope
Hope would have been the most important thing that Jews could have when they descended to Egypt, but hope seems to have been the last thing on the Torah’s mind at this point in the narrative. The last Torah portion of the book of Genesis is all about the passing …
Vayigash: Debt of Kindness
Kindness is something that is usually given out of generosity. We don’t usually think of kindness as a debt. Yet, sometimes it is a debt. For example, if someone treats you kindly, they deserve to be treated kindly in return; you owe them a debt of kindness. If you owe …
Chanukah: Spice Up Your Routine
Routine can be boring. You do it every day and you grow tired of it. We are always looking for something new and exciting. Something to pique our interest and engage our curiosity. Routine doesn’t do the trick. We need something novel, something unusual, something unexpected. The problem with new …
Vayeshev: Dare to Dream
Dream on, is an expression we use when someone shares a hope that seems fantastical. To dare to dream is to have the courage to think beyond the box; to push the envelope. Plans that people dismiss as impossible, are the stuff of dreams. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a …
Vayishlach: Minority Syndrome
When Jacob returned to Israel after twenty-two years of being a minority in the city of Haran, where his uncle Laban lived, he said “I sojourned with Laban . . . and I acquired oxen and donkeys, flocks, manservants, and maidservants.[1]
Why did he announce that he had sojourned with Laban, …
Vayetze: Find Your Well
Find your well is a mission to live by. Once we figure how to find it, it can be the answer to life’s moral challenges.
You see, there are three kinds of places, the city, the field, and the desert. The city is where people live. Wild animals are not usually …
Toldot: Like father like son
Like father like son, an idiom rooted in the words of Ezekiel (44:16), “like mother like daughter,” describes a child that resembles his parent in either mannerism or behavior. This idiom could truly be applied to our forefather Isaac, who is introduced to us in the Torah as, “Isaac, the …
Parsha Insights »
Shemot: Faith Based Relationship
Nurtured by a Miracle
Throughout the period of Jewish exile in Egypt, Jews experienced many miracles and divine interventions. Children were born in a miraculous fashion; they were raised in the fields by G-d and would arrive home, alive and healthy, at a mature age. They were fed, clothed and even …
Yearly Cycle »
Shemot : Heaven And Earth
There was a steep mountain pass just outside Premishlan that was impassable during the winter because of its treacherous icy conditions. The Chassidic master, Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, would navigate this pass on a regular basis. When asked for his secret he answered simply, “One who is bound to the …
Concepts »
Vayakhel Pekudei: The Temple of our Home
To Live is To Remember
Everyone grieves differently. Some work hard to ignore the memories of a loved one because they are just too painful to revisit, others work hard to preserve the memories because without them they lose the gift of the past. Why should our loved one die twice, …
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 …
