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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This week we discover that Jews are full of hot air. The story of the spies is recounted by Moses in the first portion of the book of Deuteronomy. He relates the negative report that the spies brought back from Israel and the fact that Jews believed this report and …
Sunday: To be Affected
Pharaoh dreamed of seven robust cows that were consumed by seven gaunt cows. In retelling his dream Pharaoh observed that the gaunt cows exhibited no appearance of having eaten even after consuming the robust cows. This seemed ominous to Pharaoh. It could not portend good news. Indeed, …
On the last day of Passover, we celebrate the coming of Mashiach—the ultimate liberation of our people from exile. This tradition was revealed by the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Chasidism, and has since gained momentum in Jewish communities around the world.
The highlight is the festive meal at the end …
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 …
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 …
