Articles tagged with: faith
B’har:Take Him at His Word
A Promise
We are commanded in this week’s Parsha to take a Sabbatical, every seven years, from farming and gardening. The Torah explains that there are weekly Sabbaticals and annual Sabbaticals and that in observing this Sabbatical we honor G-d as creator of the world.
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Beshalach: Overcoming Obstacles
Parting waters
Behind them was an army bristling for war. Before them was an ocean, deep and impassable. They could neither advance nor retreat. What could they do? Moses tried an age-old tactic. He cried out to G-d. But G-d rebuked him, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the children …
Mishpatim: Spiritual Fertility
A Reward for Mitzvah
“Lo Tehiye Meshakeilah V’akara B’artzecha, Es Mispar Yomecha Amale.” There shall be no miscarriage or infertility in your land, I shall fill the number of your days. The simple meaning of this verse is a blessing from G-d for long life and fertility in reward for keeping …
Shemot: Empathy in the Face of Suffering
A Mother’s Pain
A mother returned from her child’s funeral and approached the master. Through her tears, she begged him to tell her why her beloved child had had to die. The master asked her, “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes, of course I do” she replied.
“Are you sure?” asked the …
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 …
B’har: The Power of What
Sabbatical
Farmers in Israel are instructed by Torah to work their land for six years and to let it lie fallow on the seventh. When all the fields in a country are permitted to lie fallow for an entire year would that nation not face a very real risk of famine?
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Emor: The Dancing Jew
The Hora
I’m not much of a dancer. I don’t like dancing and I’m not good at it. So I often find myself on the side of the dance floor watching rather than joining. You see, the dance pace at a Chassidic wedding is intense but the selection is standard, the hora, …
Chanukah: General Washington Celebrates Chanukah
General Washington Celebrates Chanukah
The winter of 1777 was harsh, almost unbearable. The soldiers stationed in Valley Forge had no inkling of why they were there. In their midst was a lone Jewish soldier and it was the first night of Chanukah.
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