When we are jealous, we measure our value by others’ success. We can’t be like others. We were born to be ourselves. When we accept that limitation, we begin to shine.
Read the full story »Vayakhel Pekudei: Ritual With Passion
The Conundrum
I have a friend, a brilliant intellectual, who does not suffer fools lightly. From time to time I invite him to Synagogue and he reminds me that he does not have much tolerance for those who make too much of ritual and pay little heed to its underlying philosophy.
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Ki Tisa: Money Minded
The Golden Calf
In the desert our ancestors built and worshiped a golden calf. In our enlightened age we don’t deify calves or even gold for that matter, but in some ways we still behave as if gold were indeed the object of our worship.
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Tezaveh: A Full Complement
Two Stones
The vestments of the high priest included two beautiful stones that adorned his shoulders. These stones, which were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes, served to invoke the memory of the Jewish nation as the High Priest discharged his duties in the temple’s inner sanctum. In the …
Terumah: Mobilizing The Force
Affixing The Staves
The major artifacts in the tabernacle, transported across the desert by the Levitic tribe, were equipped with large staves by which they were lifted and transported. The Torah details precise instructions on how and when the staves were to be affixed and here we encounter a curious point. …
Mishpatim: Throwing Indecent Stones
Bribery
Among the pantheon of laws enumerated in the Torah there are many that appeal to human reason and intuitive sense of right and wrong. Law abiding societies would have promulgated these laws even if the Torah would not. Yet, it is important for us to realize that even when the …
The Nerve And The Miracle
I wrote this essay
in the summer of 200,4 several weeks after meeting an incredible woman, Chana
Libah (Marcia) Schawartz. It was only recently that I learned of Chana Libah’s passing. It is with warm memories and a heavy heart that I republish The Nerve and The Miracle, today. May
her memory be …
Beshalach: For G-d and Country
The Complaint
They were stranded in a vast desert; miles from civilization. The meager provisions, brought along from Egypt, entirely depleted. There was nothing left; not a drop. If they failed to secure food today, their children would go hungry the next day. Under these conditions, why was asking for food …
Bo: The Secret of our Continuity
The Silver Lining
We had spent the afternoon ensconced in our warm home hardly aware of the wintery conditions outdoors. As Shabbat ended we ventured outside and encountered a heavy snowfall. I groaned inwardly envisioning slush filled roads and back breaking shoveling, but was taken aback when a woman behind me …
Parsha Insights »
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, …
Yearly Cycle »
In G-d We Trust
In G-d We Trust
Do you trust in G-d? Is that your first go-to option when you experience a setback?
Suppose your car breaks down, you lose your job, or your dental insurance lapses just before your child needs a root canal, is your first reaction, “In G-d we trust?” Sadly, for …
Concepts »
Devarim: The Rational You
The Torah is divided into two parts—the first four books and the last book. The last book is in a category of its own because it is largely written as if Moses were talking rather than as G-d talking. Rather than saying “Moses spoke” this book reads, “I spoke.”
However, before …
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 …
