Authentic leaders are few and far between. Most people think of authentic leaders as leaders willing to do what is right, even when it is unpopular. That is authentic leadership. However, I was talking about authentic leaders. What’s an authentic leader?
Authentic leaders are not in it for themselves; they are …
The Mixture of Wool and Linen
Why are Jews forbidden to wear garments that contain wool and linen? A typical Jewish response would be, “Why ask why?” And truthfully such a response isn’t far off the mark. (1) This prohibition is known as a chok, Hebrew for edict, a law for …
The festival of Sukkot falls on the fifteenth of Tishrei, two weeks into the new Jewish year. Accordingly, the Torah tells us, in Exodus 34:22, to celebrate Sukkot at the turn of the year. However, there is a discrepancy. Eleven chapters earlier, Exodus 23:16 told us to celebrate Sukkot at …
A Year on Credit?
Everyone knows that the last festival of the High Holidays season is Simchat Torah when we dance around the Bimah with the Torah in a ceremony called Hakafot. But did you know that hakafot is not only the mark Simchat Torah, the last holiday of the High …
We are told not to judge a book by its cover, but most of us do. In their inimitable way, our sages tell us, “Don’t look at the cask; look at the wine. Aged casks can be filled with new wine, and new casks can be filled with aged wine” …
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 …
