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 …
Read the full story »
Shabbat Candles
Don’t make light of Shabbat. Make light for Shabbat.
A child came home from a Hebrew lesson and told her parents that she wanted to make light for Shabbat by lighting candles. The parents agreed to satisfy her whim and lit candles as the sun set on Friday. As they …
Growing Into Our Own
His parents want him to apply for business school but he is committed to music. Throughout college he is subjected to veiled comments and nuanced complaints but the young man holds firm. Four years later he graduates with honors and his parents attend the commencement ceremony. They …
The Story
Purim is the
holiday in which the miracle of Mordechai and Esther is celebrated. In
the year 3405 (about 350 BCE) a majority of the Jewish nation lived in
Persia. King Achashverush, spurred on by his advisor Haman, decreed
that the entire Jewish nation be executed on the Thirteenth day of the
Hebrew month …
The Past
There is a large cemetery in the annals of academia in which the past lies buried. This cemetery takes the form of history books monuments and museums. We visit our past, research and teach it, but we don’t live it. The past is simply, in the past. Judaism is …
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 …
