Articles in Vaeirah
Vaera: G-d is in Control
G-d is in control, is a mantra I have long lived with, but it came into sharp relief in the recent past. Last week, my family and I emerged from quarantine. Everyone in our household tested positive for COVID and thank G-d, we all recovered. We are most grateful for …
Vaera: The Great Escape
The entire Jewish ordeal in Egypt was an effort to escape. What were they escaping from?
The minutia of mundane pleasures. The Jewish people were singled out to receive the Torah at Sinai. They were poised to climb to the precipice, to scale the greatest spiritual heights, but they were trapped …
Vaeira: Doing Our Best
Children And Adults
The roaring twenties were not so roaring for the Jewish community of Poland. The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s trusted disciple, Rabbi Yechezkel (Chatshe) Fegin administered the Chabad network of Jewish schools in the region, but there was always a lack of funding. One day, Rabbi Fegin informed the Rebbe that …
Vaera: Do You Volunteer?
Too Busy to Volunteer
Volunteering is a way of life for many people. We derive so much pleasure from sharing our time, energy and resources with those in need. The sight of a grateful smile, gladdens the heart and inspires the soul. It motivates us to volunteer even more.
But for many …
Vaera: The Bane of Arrogance
Arrogance
Judaism has unique ideas, ones you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else. For example, Judaism teaches that the king (for that matter the president, prime minister or any other kind of leader) be the humblest in all of society. While arrogance is a sin for all people, it is …
Vaera: Determination
Hard Heart
When Moses and Aaron first came to Pharaoh they made a reasonable request, let my people go for three days so they could worship G-d in the desert. Pharaoh denied this request and dismissed the miracles that Aaron performed to prove the authenticity of their message. At this point …
Vaera: Where is G-d?
G-d is You
As a child I recall walking with my father one morning while he was telling my older brothers that nothing exists outside of G-d. In fact, he said, G-d is in everything. He is the flower, the street, the car, He is even you. This captured my childish …
Vaera: Just Stop Asking
My Shoes Hurt My Head
Herbert Weiner, author of Nine and a Half Mystics, enjoyed warm relations with many Chassidic Jews. Herbert reportedly asked a Chassid, why it is that despite their mutual Jewish base he feels that the Chassid walks through doors that he simply cannot. As I understood it, …
