We can look at our fellow and just see their faults, or just see their strengths. The Torah enjoins us to see our fellow as golden.
Read the full story »
Shortly before his passing, Moses translated the Torah into all the extant languages of his time. The Torah could now be read and understood in Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian, Aramaic, etc. This was considered a good thing. Many years later, the Greek King Ptolemy commissioned seventy-two Jewish sages to translate the …
Proper Attire
“He shall remove his garments and don other garments and he shall then take the ashes to a pure place, outside of the camp.” (Our Parsha 6,4) Since the removal of ash will likely soil his vestments the Torah recommends that he change his clothing for this particular task. …
The Shared Etrog
I came across a delightful story related by Dov Greenberg about Israeli Nobel Laureate and novelist S. Y. Agnon. Agnon encountered his neighbor, an elderly Rabbi, in a neighborhood Etrog store on the day before Sukkot. Jewish law ordains that Jews obtain an Etrog (citron fruit) before Sukkot …
Accompaniment
Today I want to share a reflection for life’s final journey.
Abraham planted an Eshel[1] and our sages had two different explanations for what that was. Some said it was an orchard, others said it was an inn. Some name their inn, The Red Roof Inn, others name their inn, 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 …
