Articles in Bereishit
Vayishlach: Why We Give
Early Morning Mitzvah
I want to share a story that made me reflect on why we give to people in need.
It was 6:15 AM and I was at a Starbucks on the New York Throughway seeking a dose of Ameicana to keep me awake. I was tired and bleary eyed, but …
Vayetze: Putting Children First
Children First
Do you put your children first? Are they an integral part of your life or do they intrude on your freedom? Did you marry only for love or to build a family with the person you love? When you come home, do you have eyes only for your spouse …
Toldot: The Secret of Jewish Survival
Survival Throughout History
Blaise Pascal, French theologian and philosopher, wrote at length about the marvel of Jewish survival. Powerful kings have tried to destroy them, yet the Jews survived whereas the nations of Greece, Italy, Athens and Rome have long perished. It is said that when King Louis XIV of France …
Chayei Sarah: The Joys of Hard Work
No Break
Abraham seems to have been in love with hard work. The frenetic pace of his life was unusual. In his youth, he organized and gave mass lectures on Monotheism all across Mesopotamia. He wrote four hundred books on the subject.
Tweet
Vayera: The Final Journey
Accompaniment
Today I want to share a reflection for life’s final journey.
Abraham planted an Eshel[1] and our sages had two different explanations for what that was. Some said it was an orchard, others said it was an inn. Some name their inn, The Red Roof Inn, others name their inn, The …
Lech Lecha: Do We Care?
Double Terror
This past week, Canada was shocked by two terror attacks. The first occurred on October 20 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, south of Montreal, when Martin Rouleau, a recent convert to Islam, ran over two military officers killing one and injuring the other. Do we care?
The second occurred on October 22, when …
Noah: Unity Of Thought
The Word
The rain began to fall and G-d told Noah to enter the Tevah. What is a Tevah? Every biblical commentator will tell you that it mean an ark. The Hebrew word Tevah, means a box or a trunk. The word is often used to describe the hull of a …
Noach: The Ebola Flood
Selfish Man
Have you ever received a backhanded compliment? The kind that acknowledges your achievement while smoothly sliding in a zinger? A particularly good zinger comes to mind when I think of Candidate Barak Obama responding to a wailing Hillary Clinton in a 2007 Democratic Primary Candidate debate. Clinton complained that …
