In a small village in Lithuania, a young boy named Berel received a bicycle as a gift. Berel loved his bike and drove it every day, including Shabbat. The Rabbi heard about this and announced that Berel should henceforth be referred to as Berel the goy—the non-Jew. Berel heard about …
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Tuesday, July 9, the 3rd of Tamuz, will be thirty years since the passing of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, my mentor, teacher, and inspiration. He was not just my Rebbe. He was the Rebbe of the people. Jews from far and wide consulted him. They sought his advice, …
This week we read that sometimes even G-d begs forgiveness. The story of Genesis tells us that when G-d first created the luminaries, He made the sun and the moon equal in stature—two equal rulers. How did the moon become so small and dependant on the sun for light?
The Talmud …
Before Pesach we have a flurry of rituals aimed at ridding our homes of Chametz. One ritual layers over the next creating a labyrinth of overlapping traditions that leaves one dizzy. The following article is intended to make sense of the seeming chaos.The Torah prohibits not only eating but also …
The Oys of Parenting
If, as the Torah says, humans are similar to trees, then parenting is a lot like gardening. You can read about it in books, but you don’t know what you are doing until you get your hands dirty.
I don’t know of a single parent that learned to …
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 …
