The Meaning of Sound
What does sound mean to you? Sound plays many roles. It is a vehicle for communication, music, and even distraction, but at its root sound is the simple indicator of life.
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Read the full story »Sukkot: The Sukkah Paradox
The Sukkah Paradox
For eight days I abandon the comforts of home and move into a backyard hut, a temporary shelter called a Sukah. My Sukkah is buffeted by wind and chilled by the cold, yet as I sit inside, I am happy. I lift my eyes and behold the panorama …
Chukas: Spare the Rod
The Debate
Modern society has long debated the merit of corporal punishment. Generations of children were raised with physical discipline, but current popular psychology argues against it. Today, the rod must be spared, even when children stubbornly refuse to comply, lest the children be spoiled.
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Nitzavim Vayelech: Genuine Growth
To Tell or Not To Tell
On the first day of school, hoping to impress the class with his experience, my brother’s teacher listed the many schools where he had taught over the previous decade. One boy , dully impressed, but not quite in the way the teacher had hoped, wondered, …
Ki Tavo: Serving in A Selfish World
Father and Son
After a long and agonizing separation, Jacob and Joseph were finally reunited at the ancient gates of Egypt. What did the loving father do at that moment? Did he embrace his son and release his pent-up tears? No, he recited the Shema, proclaiming his faith in G-d.
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Ki Tavo: Pondering the Harvest
A Fruit Offering
“As you enter the land that G-d your lord has given to you and inherit it and settle it. You shall take from the first…fruit of the earth… and bring it to… G-d.”
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Ki Tavo: Content with our Lot
The Impoverished Levite
“And you shall rejoice with all of the bounty that Hashem your lord has given to you, to your household, and to the Levite.” The Torah encourages us to count our blessings, to rejoice, and to be satisfied with our lot.In ancient days the Levite was not given …
Nitazvim: Questions Without Answers
Hidden Problems
“That which is hidden is for G-d our Lord but that which is revealed is for us and our children eternally, to carry out the words of this Torah”. The Torah instructs us not to worry about problems that are not in our purview. What kind of problem is …
Vayelech: Concealment Within Concealment
A Double Phrase
“And I conceal I shall conceal my face on that day because of the evil that he (the nation) did and because he (the nation) turned to foreign G-ds.” The Baal Shem Tov taught that by doubling its words, conceal I shall conceal, the Torah implies concealment within …
Parsha Insights »
Vaetchanan: The Heart of Religion
The Curve
Have you ever noticed the curve of the Ten Commandments?
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Yearly Cycle »
Passover: A Contemporary Tale
Four Redemptions
When G-d informed Moses of the exodus from Egypt he provided four descriptions of the coming redemption. “I will bring them out from under the burdens of Egypt. I will save them from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and I will take you to …
Concepts »
Chukat: For Another
Only G-d
The best way to reach G-d is to sacrifice everything for another. We learn this from a fascinating detail about the Red Heifer.
When Moses was told that it is possible to be purified even after contact with a dead body, he was surprised. Death, the absence of life, represents …
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 …
