Past Mistakes
When we make our mistakes, we feel it here and now. However, our mistakes are also written up in heaven, in our books.
Shofar Blowing In India
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.
The Current Events Of Lashon Hara
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.
The Strong Ones (Part II)
Another verse in Psalms (68:35) exhorts the reader to give “oz” to G-d. Obviously we can’t actually strengthen G-d.
Leaving It Up To The Almighty
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.
True Justice
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.
My Answer From The Lubavitcher Rebbe
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.
Mother Is Always Right!
Time has not lessened my longing for her however, comfort did come to me in a very unexpected manner.
In Preparation For The Great Day
We truly are a generation that loves the Torah. The level of the average person in Klal Yisrael today is greater that it has been in a very long time.
How To Renew A Nation
Note the inclusivity of the event. It would be anachronistic to say that the Torah was egalitarian in the contemporary sense.
The Strong Ones (Part I)
Rabbi Wertheimer explains that the greater Torah scholar a person becomes, the more effort he must exert on performing good deeds and not lose himself in the more theoretical world of study.
A Drivers License From G-d
The distance between what they know and can do is so far from actual driving, that it seems almost impossible.
When The Phone Rings
We called his phone, but there was no ring in the car. I knew Dovid had been fooling around with it in the car on the way over, so it wasn’t at home.
Be Silent And Listen
For me, one of the gifts of this strange, difficult time has been the ability to slow down the prayers so that I am able to listen to them speaking to me. Praying is as much about listening as speaking. And faith itself is the ability to hear the music beneath the noise.
A New Book
Do we appreciate things while we have them? Or do we only appreciate them once they are taken away?
The Odessa File
Oren pleaded with the department head to allow him to take this final exam either on Friday or on Sunday. His laconic reply was that this had never been allowed before and therefore could not be allowed now.
Does Love Conquer All?
Says the Torah: When love is likely to be the cause of conflict, it must take second place to justice.
The Wedding
She was finally there, watching her son get married. Eva kept telling herself, one day also Nachum will return to me and I will tell him that I was there for him.
An Extra Bris Outfit
But they didn’t return it. I didn’t even know who the parents of the baby were and in any case I wouldn’t have felt comfortable bothering a new mother.
Harnessing Information
This precise question does not arise in the Talmud. But young Reb Shlomo Zalman was able to marshal his breadth of knowledge and genius of application to render a most innovative ruling.
A Sage Is Greater Than A Prophet
What for the prophets was a dazzling vision of a distant future of peace was, for the Sages, a practical program of good community relations.
Elul
After this uncertain year which hit everyone in the world and not just an individual here and there, we come to this time of year feeling and thinking differently than just any year.
Saved By The Shechinah
We came to Israel for ruchniyus, for spiritual nourishment; physical comforts were irrelevant in our search for meaning.
Peace And Quiet
“Shalom” implies the cessation of hostilities, while “sheket” implies the cessation of any rush or toiling that force people to be constantly moving about.
The Morality Of “We, The people.”
The test of a society is not military, political, economic or demographic. It is moral and spiritual.
Driving On Cloud Nine
True, they agreed that the other was nice looking and the correct age and observance level. But a shidduch redt by a driving instructor who hardly knew either of them? Seriously???
Remembering The Wall (Part II)
Other words derived from this root include “chatzi” (half), “chazot” (midday or midnight), “chutz” (outside/exterior), and “cheitz” (arrow).
More Than We Deserve
Chessed has no if-then quality. It is given out of the goodness of the giver, regardless of the worth of the recipient.
Jerusalem of Gold and Metal
The new homes that are being built daily and the new roads that are being paved are all part of the final salvation of the Jewish people.
Corona Gifts
The day after a wedding is not the best day to get a new air conditioning unit as we were still recovering from all of the wedding expenses, predictable and otherwise.