When G-d disciplines us, the pain is real—but it is born of love. When He gives freely, we feel His kindness. When He withholds or corrects, His love is less visible—but in truth, it runs even deeper.
Read the full story »Passover: A personal Spark
Let My People Go
Did you know that everything in your possession was intended by G-d for you to have yet before He created the world? As G-d created each specific object (or the properties from which the objects would be made) He determined its owner. Your couch, wallet, furniture and …
Two Girls One Family
This past weekend, two Jewish high-school girls Bracha Katz and Rivkah Moshe from Miami, Florida, joined their classmates on a school trip to Orlando. During the weekend, on Shabbat afternoon, the two went for a stroll, when they tripped and fell into a swamp. They managed to extract themselves from …
Metzorah: Oh No My Home
He Doesn’t Care
Tragedy strikes. You are coming home from work and your house is engulfed in flames. It burns to a crisp and everything is gone. You are inconsolable; Oh no my Home! Your friends comfort you. They point out that no one was hurt and the family survived unscathed. …
Don’t Pass The Puck: Your Children Need You
The other day I went to the blood lab for a blood test. When I presented my paper work (remember I live in the happy world of Socialised Medicine) the technician gave me a long face accompanied by a sophisticated eye roll and a dismissive hand wave. I thought I …
Tazria: Fix Me Don’t Break Me
A Typical Exchange
With more than twenty years in the rabbinate I have seen my share of painful human interactions and have become an observer of human nature. I find that two thigs often happen when people berate each other. First, the berator comes on too strong to be heard. Second, …
Shmini: Bribe Yourself
The Bribe
This scene has probably played out in every family home. You are going to a wedding and don’t want to be late. But your children couldn’t care less and take their merry time getting ready. At your wits end, you do what any desperate parent does; you offer a …
Purim: The Divine Curveball
The Curveball
Can you believe its almost April? With the baseball season only days away, my mind turns to my non existent curveball. You see, the curveball is one of the many reasons I will never be a pitcher. My curveball just doesn’t curve. I can throw it straight, fast or …
Pekudei: Having A Bad Day?
Looking Up
If your life is anything like mine, then you have good days and bad. Days when you feel like G-d is on your side and days when nothing seems to go right. When you are in the midst of a full blown bad day, you just want to go …
Parsha Insights »
Noach: Food for Thought at your Dinner Table
Sunday – Ritual Mitzvot and Social Mitzvot
“The end of all flesh has come before me for the earth has filled with violence.” The “end of all flesh” is a euphemism for the prosecuting angel, who presents our misdeeds before G-d and demands that He punish us. When this angel appears …
Yearly Cycle »
B’har Bechukotai: Spiritual Significance of Volcanoes
Frailties of Nature
Have you ever wondered about the spiritual significance of volcanoes? Well wonder no more. This essay is your answer.
There are rocks and there are plants. The difference between them; one can grow, the other cannot. There are two kinds of people; those who grow, change and adjust …
Concepts »
Purim: Jewish Identity
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 …
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 …
