G-d created the world through speech, and the words with which He created us are very much like flames. “Behold, my words are like flames” (Jeremiah 23:29). Flames don’t burn unless they have fuel to consume. The same is true of G-d’s words. “For G-d your G-d is a consuming …
Read the full story »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 …
Rosh Hashanah: The Child’s Cry
The story is told of a great rabbi who was up late at night deeply engrossed in Torah study together with his study partner. At that moment one of his partner’s children was awakened by a nightmare and began to cry. The rabbi, his concentration disturbed, arose from his studies …
Rabba’s Astonishing Purim
The Party
The Talmud relates a Purim story that at first glance seems astonishing. The great sage Rabba invited his contemporary Reb Zeira for the Purim Feast. During the course of dinner, intoxicated by wine, Rabba rose and slaughtered Reb Zeira. In the morning, Rabba prayed for a miracle and Reb …
Shofar and Rosh Hashanah
Wake Up Call
The Shofar is our wake up call, it reminds us to turn to G-d. Throughout the long year Jews are caught in the stream of life, pressures and worldly considerations take their toll. We stray from the proper path leaning to the material rather then the spiritual, tending …
Law of Return
Many have wondered about Israel’s “Law Of Return”, a policy that grants all Jews, regardless of background or citizenship, the right to instant Israeli absorption and citizenship. This law has been roundly criticized as a policy of racism.The condemnation sounds rational and acceptable to those uninformed of Jewish nuance and …
New Years Greeting 5763: Tears for Israel
The
New Year is almost upon us and we prepare to greet it with the usual
pomp. This year however, the celebration will lie as a terrible burden
upon the hearts of many. Our brothers and sisters are mourning across
the planes of our beloved land, Israel.Entire
families are mourning the loss of Bubbies and …
Modesty : Look but don't Touch
An
aphorism ordinarily associated with storefront merchandise has become a
humorous reference to relationships. “You may look at another person’s
wife,’ goes the common adage, ‘but you may not touch.”
The underlying message is that no harm is done when a person admires, and maybe even desires, a member of the opposite sex.
A friend
once …
Parsha Insights »
Toldot: Stop the Bullying
Tolerating is Enabling
Do you know anyone who does nothing, but expects the world of everyone else? You know, the manipulative kind who never did a stitch of housework but raises a stink if the house is untidy or who won’t be caught dead in the kitchen, but beware if his …
Yearly Cycle »
Shabbat Hagadol: The Humble Rule
Shabbat and the King
The Shabbat before Passover is known as Shabbat Hagadol, the great Shabbat. Among the reasons for this name is that Passover is itself described in the Torah as Shababt, but it is not as restrictive as a full Shabbat – cooking for example is permissible on Passover …
Concepts »
Why Ten Plagues?
This week we are introduced to the ten plagues. Seven plagues appear in our Torah portion and the last three appear in next week’s Torah portion. Have you ever noticed that there are ten plagues, ten commandments, and G-d Created the world with ten utterances? What is the common link?
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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 …
