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 …
Read the full story »The manual for G-d’s creation is the Torah. Just like a manual outlines all the safe and unsafe practices for an appliance, so does the Torah lay out all the proper practices for life. Just as a manual explains the use of every feature of the appliance, so does the …
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar year. It is unusual to discuss Yom Kippur shortly after Passover, but it comes up this week because the Torah portion of the week describes the Yom Kippur service that was performed by the High Priest in the Holy of …
Twitter nowadays has little to do with birds and everything to do with people, but the underlying idea is the same. Birds tweet to make noise and people tweet to make noise. Twitter is not a place for deep conversation. It is a place for shallow discussion, impetuous thrusts, and …
Tazria: Holier Than Thou
Holier than thou is an expression that connotes false piety. It describes those who pass themselves off as holy when they aren’t. For example, those who give generous donations when others are looking, but nothing at all when no one takes notice. Or those who make sure …
Examine again, is a central feature of Torah study. We derive this from the words “examine, he examined”[1] a description of an examination made by Moses.
On the inaugural day of the Tabernacle, Moses left instructions for a particular offering, and when they went unheeded, he investigated the matter. However, he …
Can we deny our Jewish identity? This question was a subject of debate among Jews since the advent of the Jewish enlightenment. Reeling under the burden of antisemitism, many Jews concluded that if they were to conform in dress and behavior to the wider population, they would blend in and …
True love can only emerge when two people perform acts of love for each other. I am not talking about the shallow love that people describe when they talk about falling in love. That kind of love is skin deep. I am not even talking about the kind of love …
All relationships are tricky; spouses, siblings, friends, or colleagues, it doesn’t matter. In the course of all relationships, something occurs to make us question the other’s fidelity. Are they really there for us or are they manipulating the relationship for self-gain?
It can be a friend not showing up or a …