Articles in Concepts
Shlach: Got Challah?
A Unique Form of Giving
There are many forms of giving; charitable donations, priestly offerings and sacrificial consecrations to name a few. The common denominator among these is that a portion of one’s property is donated or consecrated one time; rendering the remainder available for personal use. The one exception is …
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 …
Shemini: G-d and the Holocaust
And He Was Silent
In the middle of his inauguration Aaron, the High Priest, suffered a terrible personal tragedy; the sudden death of his two elder sons. Moses offered words of comfort, but Aaron was silent; he accepted the Divine judgment with a full measure of faith. Our sages taught that …
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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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 …
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 …
Vayechi: Leave No Word Unspoken
Eternal Regret
A common regret expressed by bereaved family members are the words that were left unspoken. I remember one man, whose father passed away at a younger age than most, who regretted not having expressed his love for his father more frequently. I recall another whose loved one passed away …
