On Friday, May 16, Jews around the world will celebrate Lag Ba’omer. Lag Ba’omer is a joyous day. In Israel, thousands flock to Miron, the burial site of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the second-century Talmudic sage who passed away on this day.
Rabbi Shimon was the first to publicize and record …
Shema Yisrael
The best known verse in the Torah is the declaration of Jewish faith, Shema Yisrael, “hear O’ Israel, G-d is our Lord G-d is one.”[1] It is part of our liturgy and is recited four times a day. It is the verse with which countless Jews faced their death …
To rejoice for others, when they receive the something that you coveted, is difficult. To rejoice for others despite personal disappointment, or loss, displays character, humility, and refinement. It is rare, but every parent hopes to see such virtue in their child.
As the sun sets on Friday and the weekday …
Wandering
Why is the Jew always wandering? We left Egypt and spent the next forty years wandering in a dessert. Throughout our exile, our people have wandered. Even today, Jews who live in stable countries, don’t remain in the same place for long. Even Jews in Israel, wander away in search …
A story about the path to victory has recently circulated on social media: A mother asked her son, a soldier in Tzahal returning home on leave from Gaza, “What is the first thing you plan to do when you get home. He replied: “Hang a picture of the Bet Hamikdash—the …
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 …
