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 »Mishpatim: We Matter
When you read the Torah portion that we chant in the synagogue this week, you wonder why G-d even cares. Does the Creator of heaven and earth have nothing better to do with His time than devise laws about the differences between liabilities carried by paid and unpaid custodians? Does …
Yitro: Thought Sins
Thought Sins? Did you ever imagine that the Torah legislates our thoughts? A human police force would never get away with that, but G-d, who made us, can and does.
The Ten Commandments were inscribed on two tablets, five on each. The commandments on the first tablet, belief in G-d, the …
Beshalach: Stay in Your Lane
Your lane leads you from your current position to your chosen destination. If you stay in your lane, you streamline your efforts and make a bee line for your goal. If you veer from your lane, you waste energy, lengthen your journey needlessly, and most importantly, interfere with the person …
Bo: Don’t Condemn
We are so accustomed to hearing people condemn each other that we barely pay it any heed anymore. I don’t know if people used to condemn less often or less vigorously, but it certainly feels that way to me. These days it seems that every time someone opens their mouth …
Shemot: Why They Hate Us
They hate us. Not for anything we do or did. They just hate us. The past month saw a near-daily rash of attacks against Jews. These weren’t isolated attacks by right-wing radicals and white supremacists. These were attacks by ordinary members of the black community against Jews in New York. …
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 …
Vayigash: Debt of Kindness
Kindness is something that is usually given out of generosity. We don’t usually think of kindness as a debt. Yet, sometimes it is a debt. For example, if someone treats you kindly, they deserve to be treated kindly in return; you owe them a debt of kindness. If you owe …
Chanukah: Spice Up Your Routine
Routine can be boring. You do it every day and you grow tired of it. We are always looking for something new and exciting. Something to pique our interest and engage our curiosity. Routine doesn’t do the trick. We need something novel, something unusual, something unexpected. The problem with new …
Parsha Insights »
Beshalach: The Trust Test
Trust is a fickle thing. It is hard to build and it can shatter in a moment. Once shattered, it is painstaking to rebuild. If this is true of trust between people, how much more so trust in G-d?
The Torah tells us about a trust event that occurred in the …
Yearly Cycle »
Rosh Hashanah: The mystery of Good and Evil
L'Shana Tova
On Rosh Hashana, Jews traditionally greet each other with the words L’shana Tova Tikatev Vetichatem, May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. It is interesting to note that we don’t wish for a year of happiness or health, peace or serenity, freedom or fulfillment, pleasure or …
Concepts »
The Dependable Sibling
Some siblings are dependable. They show up to every family affair and are always in touch. They are the first to call when you return from a trip and always ask how you are doing. Some siblings are not quite like that. You hardly hear from them; they are always …
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 …
