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 »Are You A Kosher Letter?
Every Jew is a letter in the Torah; the question is, are you a kosher letter?
The Torah tells us that 603,550 Jews came out of Egypt.[1] Kabbalah proclaimed that there are six hundred thousand letters in the Torah.[2] A prominent kabbalist further suggested that the Hebrew word Yisrael is an …
Follow The Money
One of the most popular antisemitic tropes is that Jews are all about money. But is there perhaps some truth to this? After all, when the Jewish census was taken, Moses didn’t count people. Instead, he counted money. He told each Jew to donate a half silver coin, and he …
Charity Without Poverty
Can there be charity without poverty?
The world is on a warpath to eradicate poverty. Many billionaires, and wealthy developed countries, are investing heavily in poorer countries and hope to eradicate poverty by 2030. If that happens, the question is, what will happen to charity? Will it become a thing of …
Unrest in Israel
The current unrest in Israel is not about the state of its democracy or the role of its judiciary. As many analysts have correctly surmised, the tensions are over the direction and soul of the country. The modern state of Israel was founded by secular Zionism, which established a secular …
Every Jew A High Priest
Did you know that every Jew is a High Priest? I don’t say this tongue-in-cheek. According to the great commentator Rabbi Yakov Bal Haturim, this is precisely what G-d meant when he told our ancestors at Sinai, “You will be for me a kingdom of priests.”[1] Not only priests but …
Because I Said So
Because I said so, was a common refrain when I was young. We knew that we were more competent than all adults combined, and we constantly challenged our elders when we were instructed to do something. When the explanation was above our pay grades, their response was often, “Because I …
I Wish I Were a Simpleton
Are you a simpleton? The Hagadah makes the simpleton sound, well, simple. The simpleton asks, “What is this?” What is the seder? Why do we eat matzah and bitter herbs? Why do we drink four cups of wine? Tell him that G-d extracted us from Egypt, from the house of …
In G-d We Trust
In G-d We Trust
Do you trust in G-d? Is that your first go-to option when you experience a setback?
Suppose your car breaks down, you lose your job, or your dental insurance lapses just before your child needs a root canal, is your first reaction, “In G-d we trust?” Sadly, for …
Parsha Insights »
My Business With G-d
Every morning before I don my talit, I contemplate my business for the day. By tradition, I separate out each of the thirty-two strings that constitute the tzitzit—fringes on my talit. The purpose is to ensure that they are not entangled or knotted and that they are all intact. However, …
Yearly Cycle »
Yom Kippur: A Midrashic Account
A Stolen Gem
The Midrash relates that “when Moshe ascended to the supernal abode he heard the angels singing the words 'Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuso Leolam Vaed' and upon his descent he taught it to the Jewish people. Why does Israel not proclaim these words in public? Says, Rabbi Asi, this …
Concepts »
The Nerve And The Miracle
I wrote this essay
in the summer of 200,4 several weeks after meeting an incredible woman, Chana
Libah (Marcia) Schawartz. It was only recently that I learned of Chana Libah’s passing. It is with warm memories and a heavy heart that I republish The Nerve and The Miracle, today. May
her memory be …
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 …
