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For the two-plus years that I headed our block’s Vaad HaBayit, I was responsible to collect dues from the residents of my street and pay Avraham his monthly salary. I also brought him a drink every week when he swept our block, and I regularly purchased a modest gift for him, at my own expense, in advance of each of the Jewish holidays.

Even though it is a custom, we recite a bracha on the communal lighting just like we make a bracha for the custom of reciting Hallel on Rosh Chodesh. The Rivosh adds that one does not fulfills his obligation with the menorah lighting in shul but that everyone must light again at home.

Moses’s motto was: Let the law pierce the mountain. Aaron, however, loved peace and pursued peace and made peace between man and man.

It seems strange, even ironic, to derive a source for marriage from a case in which a man’s wife dies. However, this is not ironic, nor is it a coincidence; it reflects the deep truth that marriage is eternal.

‘Uncle’ Morris had told us that when he died he wanted our eldest daughter Rachel to have his wife’s candlesticks, but we brushed it off hoping he would use them for many more years as although not young, he was healthy and active.

Although the Rebbe does not have to explain the reason for his directives, on Shabbos, the Rebbe spoke about it and explained it in a way that even we can understand.

If the events in this world emanate from the mazalos, how can we reconcile the fact that they foretold that Avraham would not have children? Chazal do not claim that the mazal changed, only that Avraham transcended it. How did this work?

All human authority needs checks and balances if it is to remain uncorrupted. In particular, political and religious leadership, keter malchut and keter kehunah, should never be combined.

What chutzpah?! I thought to myself. I felt like a child being punished for taking a cookie out of the cookie jar.

Many people turned to Rabbi Kelemer not just because of his proficiency, but because he always knew precisely whom he was addressing, and perceived what they needed – without tampering with halacha.

All her life she fulfilled the ideal of the Psalmist, The entire honor of a king's daughter is within.

The inability to fully understand the destination of one’s own growth can be compared to a child’s inability to grasp a complex scientific or spiritual concept.

It is not what G-d does for us that transforms us, but what we do for G-d.

Thoughts surged through my head. What to do? No point in getting to the Institute without the essential documents. But to get home, rush in, grab the folder, wait for the bus and train and then arrive late, when they may refuse to see me? I decided to take that chance.

Cognizant of her wisdom and strength, her father involved her in much of his work.

If G-d does not want slavery, if He regards it as an affront to the human condition, why did He not abolish it immediately?

A central question in the story of the mabul is why Hashem specifically chose to destroy the world through a flood. Hashem could have chosen any form of destruction, and yet, He chose water. Why?

I was in despair. I couldn't believe it, here was the exact job that I was looking for being presented to me under the condition of giving up my new principle. Could I just for the sake of money give in to my highest decisions.

Admittedly, the Talmud questions how free the Israelites actually were, and it uses an astonishing image.

Like Adam, each of us has our own unique creation story.

On the morning of the day before the expected bris, he reluctantly cancelled the shul hall and catering when the baby's bilirubin count shot up to 18. The mohel tried to comfort him and suggested he take the baby again for a test in the afternoon to see if the numbers were going down. But they weren't.

Without telling anyone that he was going, Rabbi Kelemer had driven for hours to sit with this old man, who was not his congregant and had been non-verbal for many years. The rabbi was obviously embarrassed when the grandson walked in and found him there.

After the Holocaust, the Jewish community was left broken, licking their wounds, mourning their dead. The Rebbe set out to strengthen and rebuild the Jewish world.

During the first stage of history, Hashem revealed Himself openly, and the world was replete with miracles, prophecy, and clarity. Little effort was required to find Hashem or to connect to that which is higher. This was the time of emes.

In Bereishit Rabbah, it is indicated that the division of the sea was, as it were, programmed into Creation from the outset. It was less a suspension of nature than an event written into nature from the beginning, to be triggered at the appropriate moment in the unfolding of history.

Having lived in rented apartments myself for years long ago, I could picture myself in her situation and imagine how upset I would be. But later on, I was able to reflect that Hashem had given me this opportunity, not just to do chesed for my friend, but to see my own unpleasant experience in a new light.

During the war between France and Russia, Rabbi Schneur Zalman espoused the Russian cause, and through the cooperation of his followers proved of great service to the Russian High Command.

That is the context in which we should read the story of Pharaoh and his advisers. This is one of the first recorded instances of the march of folly. How does it happen?

As human beings, we uniquely possess free will. We can know for a fact that something is wrong, and yet choose to do it anyway.

And you can’t find a technician in your neighborhood to repair your fridge? Reb Moshe asked. Try to get someone else to come down. I tried! the man protested. I called a few, but no one was available. Look, he said, I need my refrigerator for Shabbos, or my food will go bad. Please! I’ll pay you double!