Bo : Light and Dark Intertwined
The Ninth Plague
The plague of darkness was such that “no person could see his brother, nor could any person rise from his place for three days. (However) the children of Israel had light in all their homes.” (1)
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Miketz : Divine Providence
The Jewish quarter in the northern Israeli City, Tzefas, was subjected to a five-month siege during the 1947 war for independence. When the siege lifted venerated rabbis in the community, renown for their piety and sharp wit, had this to say.
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Vayeshev : Travel Begins and Ends At Home
True Treasures are At Home
Listening to the car radio on my way home from a particularly long trip I heard an accomplished, world famous traveler declare that her most amazing travel experience was accomplished within the confines of her own home. She had observed the most exotic sights in the …
Vayishlach : Two Tracks
Shortly after landing my first job I approached my employer with a proposal. “You are a visionary but are not pragmatically grounded. I lack your vision but have a pragmatic knack for detail. I propose that you determine the overall vision for our company and I will determine the detailed policy.” …
Vaytze : The Night is for Jacob
Our patriarchs, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov established a rite of prayer that is followed to this very day. Avraham coined the morning service, Yitzchak the afternoon service and Yaakov the evening service. (1)
In prayer we draw divine energy into our environment and ourselves. Every day progresses through three stages, …
15th Nov 2004 : Shaloh House Synagogue, Stoughton, MA
Shaloh House Synagogue
50 Ethyl Way, # 781
Stoughton, MA 02072-1211
(781) 344-6334
From Sinai to Modern Day – Lecture
Tracing Maimonides to the development of the Oral Tradition
November 15th found Shaloh House Chabad of the South Area with a room
set up for another exciting lecture. With about 30 people in
attendance, Rabbi Lazar Gurkow, …
Shavuot the Festival of Weeks
Sunday, May 27, marks the beginning of Shavuot, the Jewish festival of weeks. Its name reflects the seven-week period that commences on the second night of Passover and concludes on the first night of this festival. During this time the Jewish ancestry journeyed from Egypt to Sinai and prepared to …
Bikur Cholim
A fantastic story is told about the Chassidic master Rabbi Moshe of Korbin. Once, on his travels, he stayed at the home of one of his disciples. His host’s grandson, then a baby, had fallen gravely ill. Doctors had given up all hope and did not expect the child to …
Parsha Insights »
Bo: Don’t Condemn
We are so accustomed to hearing people condemn each other that we barely pay it any heed anymore. I don’t know if people used to condemn less often or less vigorously, but it certainly feels that way to me. These days it seems that every time someone opens their mouth …
Yearly Cycle »
With G-d’s Help
The Torah tells us to appoint judges and guardians at the gates of our cities. The city’s gathering place was usually at the gates, making it the fitting place for the courthouse and police station. However, Jewish scholarship has long maintained that there is a parallel teaching here. We are …
Concepts »
The Jewish Core Emerges
The Jewish core has emerged stronger than ever these past few weeks. The monstrous massacre, compounded by the public blaming Jews for it, was a murderous double stab to the collective Jewish heart. The fact that some of our decades-long friends and neighbors have turned on us so suddenly left …
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 …
