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 »B’Ha'alotcha: Absorbing the Abstract
Lighting The Candle
Every year, shortly after the holiday of Shavuot, we chant the Biblical injunction to kindle the candelabra in the Bet Hamikdash. King Solomon used the metaphor of light to describe the Torah for the Torah radiates light. It thus stands to reason that much can be inferred about …
Naso: Commitment Spawns Enthusiasm
Completely Invested
Reb Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the third Rebbe of Chabad, (1) once related that his grandfather, Reb Schneur Zalman, offered to bless him with the intellectual gift that would make Torah study come easily to him. Reb Menachem Mendel refused saying that he wanted to invest his energies and acquire …
What I Learned From The Near Stock Market Crash
The Roller Coaster
Yesterday we experienced a near stock market crash. Its one of the craziest half hours in stock exchange history; the Dow dropped nearly one thousand points, suffering what would have been it’s worst fall in seventeen months, before rebounding to recoup nearly all its losses. According to the …
Bamidbar: The Secret of Three
Wherever You Look
As our ancestors journeyed across the desert they were arrayed in four equal groups, each composed of three tribes; the tabernacle at the center and the four groups positioned around it. The grouping of three tribes per group was practical as there were a total of twelve tribes, …
Behar Bechukotai: Choose Your Reality
Anomalies
This essay tells you to choose your reality, but how does reality become a matter of choice? The answer is found in a curious anomaly. There are several anomalous words in the Torah that appear at first blush completely out of context. By tradition, when reading those verses, we substitute …
Emor – The Ironic Act Of Love
The Blasphemer
When he lost his case in Moses’ court, the blasphemer pronounced the ineffable name of G-d and cursed; bringing life in the desert to a standstill. No one knew how to respond; they had never imagined that this egregious sin would be committed and had ever contemplated its punishment. …
Acharei Mot: Walk The Walk
On The Beach
I had a conversation fourteen years ago with a fellow that has since become one of my closest friends. This was the first time we met and he wanted to test my tolerance, as it were, by mentioning that rather than attend a formal synagogue service on Yom …
Tazria Metzorah: Our Clash Of Priorities
A Curious Order
Tzara’as was a skin condition prevalent in Biblical times. Our sages taught that rather than a physical illness tzara’as was a symptom of a spiritual malaise; it struck the gossip as a consequence of Lashon Hara.
Tzara’as exhibited in four places, on skin, hair, clothing and the walls of …
Parsha Insights »
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 …
Yearly Cycle »
Shemot: There is Always an Option
Only in America
High over the skies of Ohio I engaged my seat mate in discussion. His father is Protestant, his mother is Anglican and he, an earnest family man, wants to join the Anglican church. However, the only young congregation in his neighborhood with facilities for children is that of …
Concepts »
Ki Teze: Why Usury is Forbidden
Brotherhood
Usury is not inherently wrong. On the contrary, it is critical to the conduct of business . Usury encourages banks to extend mortgages and loans, it enables entrepreneurs to establish or expand their business and it enables ordinary people to purchase homes and automobiles.
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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 …
