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November 10, 2024 – 4:04 pm | Comments Off on Pointers on Hospitality26 views

This week, we read about Abraham’s hospitality, a story that offers many beautiful lessons.
Let me begin by pointing out how profound this Mitzvah is. Abraham was visited by G-d Himself when the angels showed up. Abraham did not know they were angels; to him, they looked like ordinary humans. Yet, …

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Our Inherent Need to Matter

June 15, 2024 – 11:38 pm | Comments Off on Our Inherent Need to Matter
baren-desert

Would you rather earn a meager salary or be a kept man or woman and live in luxury? Most people like to live in luxury, but not at the price of their self-image and soul.
Reflecting on our early history, G-d lovingly proclaimed to Jeremiah (2:2), “Go and call out in …

The Ultra Orthodox Draft

June 8, 2024 – 11:29 pm | Comments Off on The Ultra Orthodox Draft
Torah-Study-Wins-Wars

Shavuot
Amid Israel’s war in Gaza, there is talk of drafting yeshivah students into the army to bolster its ranks. On Shavuot, we celebrate the anniversary of receiving the Torah, so I want to write about the role of Torah in war. The Torah is not just a dusty old book …

We Are Not Victims

June 2, 2024 – 1:14 am | Comments Off on We Are Not Victims
not-victims

This Shabbat, the 2’nd of Sivan, will be three-thousand-three-hundred-thirty-six years since G-d declared us a kingdom of princes. However, when our enemies take potshots at our children’s schools, it is hard to feel like a kingdom of princes. Nevertheless, that was precisely how I felt when I watched footage of …

The Real You

May 25, 2024 – 10:48 pm | Comments Off on The Real You
real you

Michelangelo once said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
The essence of every Jew is a beautiful perfect soul. It is unmarred by ego, immaturity, insecurity, obsession, or any other form of human weakness. This beautiful soul, more pristine than the angel in …

Are We Equal?

May 18, 2024 – 10:56 pm | Comments Off on Are We Equal?
Are-we-equal

Are we truly equal? We all know someone smarter, wiser, more capable, industrious, resourceful, or creative, than us. We also know people less wise, capable, industrious, resourceful, or creative than us. So, are we truly equal?
The answer is yes, but not because we are all equally capable. Our skill sets …

Free Palestine?

May 12, 2024 – 4:01 pm | Comments Off on Free Palestine?
free-palestine

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 …

Heal Your Fractured Self

May 4, 2024 – 10:39 pm | Comments Off on Heal Your Fractured Self
fractured-self

We all have two dimensions: the inner wholesome, beautiful self that is a fount of integrity, honesty, determination, and love. Then we have the outer fractured self that is filled with cravings, greed, lust, flightiness, envy, unhealthy competitiveness, bias, anger, resentment, insecurity, etc. The goal is not only to transition …

Hamas College Takeovers

April 25, 2024 – 11:53 pm | Comments Off on Hamas College Takeovers
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 21: For the fifth day, pro-Palestinian students occupy a central lawn on the Columbia University campus, on April 21, 2024 in New York City. Earlier in the week over 100 students were arrested by the police and suspended by the university for demonstrating against the war in Gaza and demanding the University divest from Israel.  (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Over the past week, we have seen anti-Israel college takeovers with protestors openly declaring their desire to kill Jews and to render Israel—from the river to the sea—Juden Rein. The brazen tactics and bullying have left many Jewish students and faculty members afraid to venture onto campus. As we approach …