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 »Ki Tisa: Money Minded
The Golden Calf
In the desert our ancestors built and worshiped a golden calf. In our enlightened age we don’t deify calves or even gold for that matter, but in some ways we still behave as if gold were indeed the object of our worship.
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Tezaveh: A Full Complement
Two Stones
The vestments of the high priest included two beautiful stones that adorned his shoulders. These stones, which were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes, served to invoke the memory of the Jewish nation as the High Priest discharged his duties in the temple’s inner sanctum. In the …
Terumah: Mobilizing The Force
Affixing The Staves
The major artifacts in the tabernacle, transported across the desert by the Levitic tribe, were equipped with large staves by which they were lifted and transported. The Torah details precise instructions on how and when the staves were to be affixed and here we encounter a curious point. …
Mishpatim: Throwing Indecent Stones
Bribery
Among the pantheon of laws enumerated in the Torah there are many that appeal to human reason and intuitive sense of right and wrong. Law abiding societies would have promulgated these laws even if the Torah would not. Yet, it is important for us to realize that even when the …
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 …
Yitro: The Vanishing Letters
Four Reviews
Our sages taught before appearing at Sinai, G-d reviewed the Ten Commandments four times. (1) What is the significance of these four reviews and what can we learn from this in terms of the vanishing letters??
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Beshalach: For G-d and Country
The Complaint
They were stranded in a vast desert; miles from civilization. The meager provisions, brought along from Egypt, entirely depleted. There was nothing left; not a drop. If they failed to secure food today, their children would go hungry the next day. Under these conditions, why was asking for food …
Bo: The Secret of our Continuity
The Silver Lining
We had spent the afternoon ensconced in our warm home hardly aware of the wintery conditions outdoors. As Shabbat ended we ventured outside and encountered a heavy snowfall. I groaned inwardly envisioning slush filled roads and back breaking shoveling, but was taken aback when a woman behind me …
Parsha Insights »
Chanukah: Naturally in Love with G-d
The Split
I once asked an audience to tell me which historical factor contributed most to our continuity and one fellow insisted that the correct answer was anti-Semitism. When the nations reject us we have no choice, but to turn inward. When the nations befriend and accept us we tend to blend into the global culture …
Yearly Cycle »
Shavuot: How To Celebrate An Anniversary?
Ani-Very-Sorry
Shavuot is the anniversary of the day we received the Torah. Almost every year before my anniversary my friends ask, so what are you going to do for your anniversary? I submit that a much better question would be what is your anniversary going to do for you? And if …
Concepts »
Re’eh: Teaching Children
Memories of Children
What are your earliest Jewish memories?
My formative memories are of the holidays. Building a Sukkah with my father and brothers. Eating Matzah at the Seder table. Hearing the Ten Commandments on Shavuot.[1]
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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 …
