I was walking home after services on Friday night and passed someone who raised his arm and screamed, “Free Palestine”. I said nothing in response but thought, “I hope Palestine is free, dear chap now that you’ve done your part. And I hope you sleep well, dear chap now that …
Read the full story »Va’era: Realize Your Worst Fears
Realizing your worst fears can be frightful. Deep inside we all have that abiding fear that we tamp down and bury far beneath the surface. It might be a fear of failure, a fear of being mocked, a fear of heights, a fear of darkness. Whatever our fears are, we …
Shemot: Just Ask
We often tell people who are in need that all they need to do is ask. It is surprising to realize how often people want something and don’t think to ask. They assume others will realize their need and offer to help. If no one offers, they assume no one …
Vayigash: Chutzpah
Chutzpah is a word that doesn’t need to be translated. Anyone who has ever had it knows exactly what it is. But it is also a word that doesn’t translate well. Audacity, nerve, gall, gumption, brazenness, and brashness, have all been used. But none of these do chutzpah justice. Some …
Vayechi: Priorities
What are your priorities in life?
Every Jewish parent knows that when it comes to blessing our children, Ephraim comes first. This is rooted in a passage in this week’s Torah portion. “He [Jacob] blessed them on that day saying, ‘With you Israel will bless, ‘may G-d make you like Ephraim …
Chanukah: The Dreidel
The dreidel for Chanukah and the gragger (Ra’ashan) for Purim have the exact same structure, have you ever noticed? Both have a round bulb from which a stem protrudes. The difference is that the dreidel’s stem protrudes from the top of the dreidel and points upward, the gragger’s stem protrudes …
Vayeshev: Jewish Survival
What is the secret that has enabled the Jewish survival over two thousand years of our diaspora?
Two weeks ago, we read about Jacob’s sojourn in his uncle Laban’s home. Last week we read about Jacob’s harrowing return journey home. Among many other challenges, he encountered his brother Esau, and they …
Geed Hanasheh—Sciatic Nerve
Geed hanasheh is the sciatic nerve, a sinew in the hip that Jews are forbidden to eat. Many know that kosher meat must be slaughtered and salted. Not many know about neekur, the intricate process that entails the removal of the animal’s forbidden parts, including the geed hanasheh. In fact, …
Vayetze: Find Our Calling
To find our calling is the hallmark of life. Life isn’t a generic formula that can be applied to everyone equally. Each life is unique; each life story is highly individual. As children, we live with our parents and family, but as we grow and mature, we venture forth and …
Parsha Insights »
Vayechi: A Symbol of Hope
Hope would have been the most important thing that Jews could have when they descended to Egypt, but hope seems to have been the last thing on the Torah’s mind at this point in the narrative. The last Torah portion of the book of Genesis is all about the passing …
Yearly Cycle »
Simchat Torah: Start Again
A Page Turner
When was the last time you spent an entire year reading a two thousand-page novel and then launched into a second reading of it on the very day you finished? When was the last time you spent an entire year reading this novel for the second time and …
Concepts »
Acharei Kedoshim: Cancel Culture
Cancel culture is a craze in our times. The airways and streets are ablaze with political correctness and groupthink. This isn’t the first time that cancel culture has taken hold. In my own lifetime I watched groupthink take hold several times and history books are replete with such examples. My …
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 …
