The Torah teaches that every mitzvah is vital, yet all of Judaism rests upon a single stem— faith in G-d and in the truth of the Torah. If that stem remains alive, everything else can grow from it.
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The nineteen sixties will forever be associated with the hippie movement; the thrust to break free of the shackles of morality. The argument that all pleasure is healthy and that puritanical restraint is toxic is a product of the sixties. It was a time of unrestrained hedonism and the unraveling …
How Dare We?
Jewish tradition and history assigned names to all Torah portions. The portion that describes the delivery of the Ten Commandments at Sinai is named after Moses’ father in law, Jethro. Based on the belief that everything, including a choice of name, occurs for a reason, we wish to …
Pharaoh and the Frog
In discussing the second of the Ten Plagues the Midrash mentions that every creature plays a role in G-d’s master plan. If not for the frog, says the Midrash, how would the Almighty take retribution against Pharaoh?
Why does the Midrash single out the frog when there were …
Shabbos Prohibitions
It would be far beyond the scope of this essay to do justice to the intricate details of the Shabbos prohibitions. However, we will attempt provide a general overview of the categories of Melacha (work) that is prohibited on Shabbos.
The written Torah does not clearly delineate the individual types …
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 …
