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How does Yom Kippur help us focus on the future and on making a change?

Near the end of Parshas Va’etchanan, so inconspicuously that we can sometimes miss it, is a statement with such far-reaching implications that it challenges the impression that has prevailed thus far in the Torah, giving an entirely new complexion to the biblical image of the people Israel:

Kelly regularly jumped up to greet me in her signature style, licking me exuberantly while rhythmically wagging her tail. Well, she certainly knew how to make a guest feel welcome (if not utterly terrified!).

Victory comes in different forms.

How shocking and unexpected was Mrs. Goodman's urgent phone call to her daughter! Normally an active and healthy woman, Mrs. Goodman's doctor had diagnosed her with terminal cancer and gave her less than a month to live.

I guess none of us were completely surprised when the jeweler said that most of the “diamonds” were not in fact diamonds at all and were worth very little.

And this was the very battle between the perception of Yaakov and Esav. They both wanted both the spiritual and the physical.

What happens at the sea is poetic justice of the most exquisite kind. The powerful are now powerless, while the powerless have made their way to freedom.

There is something moving about seeing Moses, at almost 120, looking forward as well as back, sharing his wisdom with the young, teaching us that while the body may age, the spirit can stay young

It used to be that when our youngest boys were about to go outside and it was cold, I’d sometimes remind them to take a jacket. Now I remind our youngest son, Yisrael Meir, to take pepper spray.

When Rachel "cries" to G-d she is actually singing to him from the depths of her soul.

Twice a year my apparel company has an exhibition at The Sands Expo Convention Center, drawing buyers from around the world. During the week of the exhibit, we daven at the Venetian Hotel every morning at 6:30.

The shofar blast is intended to wake them up and remember their Creator. The shofar can allow us to understand that Hashem is our melech.

We each come from different families and different countries, and yet we are all part of the same family of Israel. This is why it's written that Kol Yisrael arevim ze la'ze – all the Nation of Israel are accountable, and responsible one for the other.

The Jew, who had a deep faith in Hashem, answered, My life is in G-d's hands. If He does not want me to die, you will not be able to kill me.

Despite the misnaggid finding himself in a loony bin of naiveté, surely the Rebbe would not be so brazen and shameless to claim that he was up in Heaven reciting selichos!

As music connects note to note, so faith connects episode to episode, life to life, age to age in a timeless melody that breaks into time.

Rabbi Shlomo is well known for his love of every single Jew and his ability to reach so many souls with his special music and his magnetic personality.

Only in Israel can the Jewish people construct a political system, an economy, and an environment on the template of Jewish values.

This story was told by Mrs. T., a woman in her 60s who I've known for three years. Mrs. T. attends my synagogue and sisterhood functions. Over the years, Mrs. T. always appeared to be shy and tense. She rarely spoke and usually had worry lines between her eyes and around her mouth. When she and her family first moved to our neighborhood, her husband also attended synagogue. However, he suffered from a chronic illness that kept him home on many a Shabbat.

"But you have all our credit card details from when we paid for the car.”

Adaptive leadership is called for when the world is changing, circumstances are no longer what they were, and what once worked works no more. There is no quick fix, no pill, no simple following of instructions. We have to change. At a certain point, Moses had to help the Israelites change, to exercise responsibility, to learn to do things for themselves while trusting in God instead of relying on God to do things for them.

In truth, we are not counting down to Matan Torah, but rather are building toward it, ascending one day at a time.

Hashem promises and does not immediately fulfill them. Only once a person has bitachon is he deserving of the fulfillment of the promises.

Both of these words are commonly translated as “nothingness,” but understanding the nuances expressed by these ostensible synonyms will help us better understand what exactly the Torah means to teach us about the state of the world before Creation.

There is a fascinating moment in the unfolding story of the plagues that should make us stop and take notice. Seven plagues have now struck Egypt.

This isn't just any party. It's a chanukas habayis plus seudas hodaya for your smooth recuperation. We can't just serve sponge cake.

The popularity of the rise of chassidus did not go unnoticed by those who did not share the same allegiance. As long as the movement was limited to the commoner and isolated in a few pockets of Poland no one perceived it as a threat. But all of this had changed by 1772.

Hashem created the world, including humanity and our psychology. So why couldn’t He simply create us in such a way that we do enjoy gifts and free handouts as much as we enjoy things that we have earned through hard work?

In the aftermath of 9/11 many people were fearful of another terrorist attack. Indeed, from that day on we entered into a new era of global terrorism.