Do you peddle in relative truths, or are you a stickler for the absolute truth? This essay examines the two types of truth and posits that G-d’s truth is absolute.
Read the full story »Nitzavim: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Unity of Parts
“You stand firmly today, All together [as one], the heads of your tribes, elders, guards… young children, women, converts…” This verse begins by emphasising the unity of the gathering, they stood together [as one], then it enumerates the distinctions between the classes gathered on that day.
Unity is …
Ki Tavo- Food for Thought at Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Humbling Fruit
“When you will come to the country that G-d . . . has given you and you will inherit it and settle in it.” Is Israel a gift from G-d or a land that we have inherited and settled in our own right? This question lies at the …
Ki Teze: Food for Thought for your DinnerTable
Sunday: Internal Conflict
“When you go out to war against your enemies and G-d will deliver him into your hands.” There are two anomalies in this verse. First, why does the Torah use the phrase, “go out to war” when it would be sufficient to say go to war? Second, why …
Shoftim: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Local Judges
“Judges and guards you shall set for yourself at all your gates.” Judges were placed at the gates of every Jewish community both inside Israel and outside. Why were the Jews from abroad not brought to Israel for trial? Why were courts established outside of Israel?
A judge must …
Unity – A Mile High
A Celebration of Unity
The Democratic Party has recently held a deeply emotional convention with an overriding theme of party unity. Coming off a highly charged primary campaign that was both hostile and divisive, campaign aides and party leaders identified their primary task as mending the fissure and reuniting the party.
Events …
Shadows and Light
It was one of those frustrating mornings when the sun seemed unable to decide whether to shine or not. It was quite frustrating, you know sunglasses on, sunglasses off, I’m sure you have all been there. The sunshine brings joy to the heart, the promise of a day that looms …
Reeh: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Fortune
Not every country is a superpower nor is every country at the bottom of the totem pole. Mostany are somewhere in the middle; comfortable, but not powerful. Jews, however, are never in the middle; we are either at the very top or at the very bottom. This is because …
Eikev: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: The individual
“You should observe and fulfill every Mitzvah that I command you today so that you may all live, multiply, arrive and inherit the land that I promised to your forefathers.” This verse begins with an exhortation to the individual, but concludes with a blessing to the nation. This …
Parsha Insights »
B’ha’alotcha: Tithe for Israel
Israel seems to be a recurring problem for the Jewish people. Ever since Joshua conquered the land, nations have tried to wrest it from us. Our ancestors fought recurring battles against the Moabites, Midianites, Canaanites, Amalekites, Ammonites, and Philistines. Later came the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and finally, the Romans, …
Yearly Cycle »
Nitzavim: Tears of Joy
The eyes of a Jew on Rosh Hashanah—the annual day of judgment, are often filled with tears and remorse. We know we will be judged for our behavior. We also know that some of our behavior has been compulsive, some of our personality has been toxic, and some of our …
Concepts »
B’har B’chukotai: True Freedom
Freedom is one of humanity’s fundamental goas. Ever since Moses trumpeted the call, “let my people go,” people the world over valued and treasured freedom. Yet we sometimes apply freedom too narrowly. When we see a person indentured into servitude we chafe at the unfairness of it. When we see …
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 …
