Columns

Abraham is the supreme example in all of history of influence without power.

In four places in Tanach, the middle patriarch is referred to as "Yischak," not "Yitzchak."

Each and every one of us is part of Am Yisrael, and we are made up of many souls and many missions that we are expected to fulfill.

Time went by and one day Yaacov had pain in his abdomen, the same type of pain that he had before his operation. He thought and hoped that maybe it would pass, so he waited.

Speaking specifically to the Jewish community, the undeniable fact is, the current president has done more for our people and Israel than any other United States President.

This is a tale of decline. Why?

Hashem in His infinite wisdom, sent us from the heavens above the holy Torah, down to us so that we may learn, grow and purify ourselves.

My first day at the high school was an eye-opener. As I walked into the large entrance room, I suddenly heard a door open. I heard a teacher scream at a student and physically throw him out of the class. What a welcoming!

By us learning Torah, the world will see that there is a Hashem and that He is righteous.

Kayin does not deny personal responsibility. He does not say, “It was not me,” or “It was not my fault.” He denies moral responsibility.

Avraham had a yeshiva background his whole life, and has a soft spot for others in need. The 5 other young men he has working on his farm, are boys that couldn’t find themselves in regular yeshiva settings and were headed for the streets to try their luck and see what would come up.

The entire time we were all on the rock, we were in darkness, since we were trying to conserve the cellphone lights. Besides, there was nothing to see except the night sky, which was easier to see in the dark.

Dr. Michael Satlow suggests that “kiddushin” is actually a loanword from the Greek legal term “ekdosis,” which refers to a bride's father handing over his daughter to her husband.

The conditions at the school Devorah was employed at were great. Perhaps she too would be privileged to finally find her calling.

Lifsh immediately attempted to pry the car off the children. His efforts were in vain as a mob began to attack him.

The Torah’s word for betrothal is “erusin,” and its cognates appear throughout the Bible. The Mishnah, however, more often uses a different word: “kiddushin.”

Sukkot celebrates the dual nature of Jewish faith: the universality of G-d and the particularity of Jewish existence.

Thoughts filled the air with: What will be with the virus? When will the roads be open again? What decree was sealed in heaven this year for the nation?

When Rabbi Margolin arrived home he sat down with his rebbetzin and they discussed what had transpired in the Rebbe's home. They talked, and thought and begged Hashem to give them the right thoughts so that they would make the right decision.

At some point in the last half a year, everyone has had something in their lives changed. The most important thing to know about these changes is that they were orchestrated by Hashem personally.

This is a doctrine fundamental to Judaism and its understanding of evil and suffering in the world: G-d is just.

In Cheshek Shlomo, Rabbi Pappenheim connects “eitan” to the biliteral root aleph-tav, which he further reduces to the monoliteral root tav. He explains that this root means connections and linking.

When we make our mistakes, we feel it here and now. However, our mistakes are also written up in heaven, in our books.

We loved hearing from our son by phone, and sometimes there was good enough reception to see him on WhatsApp. He was really having a wonderful time. He would plan his hiking itinerary around the goal of being in a Chabad House for Shabbatot.

There is no reason why we should have a monopoly on kind speech, and Telushkin has gone so far as to initiate a bipartisan group of senators to introduce Senate Resolution 264 calling for a national “Speak No Evil Day” in America.

Another verse in Psalms (68:35) exhorts the reader to give “oz” to G-d. Obviously we can’t actually strengthen G-d.

It follows therefore that if vengeance is wrong, it could not have been commanded by G-d – not to Christians, and not to Jews. If it was commanded, we must be able to make some moral sense of it, whether we are Jews or Christians.

No matter what truly happened in any given situation, the media is there to chop up whatever "meat" is offered in the town square and hang that victim up by a noose for life.

I did not ask for parnassah or to find a new job. I asked The Rebbe that there should be a shul (synagogue) within 2 or 3 blocks from the place where I will eventually find work.

Time has not lessened my longing for her however, comfort did come to me in a very unexpected manner.