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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Ascent and Descent
Shavuot is the holiday that celebrates the Torah, Mt. Sinai and the Ten Commandments. In conjunction with this holiday, the Jerusalem Talmud declares, ”Up till this point there was a separation between heaven and earth. The time had come to undo this separation, the heavens would descend to …
When you go to war, you need a winning strategy. It doesn’t matter how strong or weak your army is, success depends on the strategy. If the generals devise a winning strategy, you have a chance of winning the war. If they don’t have a winning strategy, you have lost …
Sweeping vista
Lifeless plane
Victory hollow
Heart of pain
Land mass strewn
friend and foe
Lie forever
Battle throe
Sand storm rising
Sinai beckons
A soul asunder
Wanders, reckons
Patience try
Today on high
Was it worth it
An anguished sigh
A rising wave
A tidal crest
We won the war
We lost our best
Victory sweet
A price so steep
Oh please dear G-d
My brother keep
Sinai captured
Fires cease
Dead, secure
A lasting peace
Will …
It’s just one small infraction, no big deal.
This is a common argument that we hear often, but only in our own heads. We would never be brazen enough to justify our infractions to others with this argument, but we say it to ourselves.
Suppose, you are leaving a hotel and want …
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 …
