The Teacher As Hero

Your life seems to be coming to a tragic end, your destination unreached, your aspirations unfulfilled. What do you do? WWMD?

Love vs. Hate

Sadly, the most common places we meet with love and hate is in family conflicts.

Bovine Words: Cows And Cowboys

In Hebrew, an egel is a male calf, while an eglah is a female calf. Calves are immature bovines that rely on their mother’s milk to survive and grow.

Travel Travails

Eventually I narrowed the selection down to a few interesting ones, with Barcelona, Budapest, and Venice being the top contenders.

Modeh Ani Lifanecha

I realized how lucky we were that Hashem had woken me from my sleep in time to deal with the fumes which were slowly overtaking our house.

Priorities: Parshat Matot

Moses’ implied rebuke to the tribes of Reuben and Gad is not a minor historical detail but a fundamental statement of Jewish priorities. Property is secondary, children primary.

A Thought For The Three Weeks

The overwhelming majority of machlokesim and acts of kana’us performed today are not l’sheim Shamayim.

Relationships

Many people today are being sucked into the electronic and computerized devices. The youth suffer from this connection more than anyone else.

Rising From The Ashes

Devorah bravely faced the cameras to thank all the many people who were helping them to return to their home.

Heavy Taxes And Empty Pockets

Another Hebrew word for tax is meches, appearing six times in chapter 31 of Sefer Bamidbar.

Following Moshe

Dignity is not a privilege of birth. Honor is not confined to those with the right parents. In the world defined and created by Torah, everyone is a potential leader.

Never Too Late To Say I’m Sorry

Hurting or upsetting any person is a very serious sin, especially in the eyes of the Creator who created us all and loves all of His children.

The Young Man Who Missed A Fast Day

Ben Zion caught his breath and apologized to Rav Ahron for barging in on him at the airport.

Not Reckoned Among The Nations

Tanach is perhaps the least self-congratulatory national literature in history. Jews chose to record for history their faults, not their virtues.

In Judaism, Religion and Nationhood Coincide

Why did God choose that Israel be blessed by Bilaam? Surely there is the principl “Good things come about through good people” (Tosefta Yoma 4:12). Why did this good thing come about through a bad man?

Why Was the Beis Hamikdash Destroyed?

The pasuk in the beginning of Parshas Eikev says that when we will follow the laws of the Torah, Hashem will guard the bris.

Are You Really ‘With Me’?

If G-d told Balaam not to go with Balak’s men, why did He seemingly “change His mind” and later allow him to go?

Wise Or Correct?

When we make choices, we should try to see all the sides involved and not just our own point of view.

A Friend Indeed

We were fortunate to start our trip home. What a thrill to call the insurance company and advise them, “Please cancel my service call.”

The Celestial Phone Call

So why then are we not attentive enough to all of the signs that surround us? I have not the psychological training to analyze this question, but what seems clear is that slumber is not only restricted to our beds.

Laws And Orders

Classical writing requires ink and paper, which are technically separable. In engraving, the material being engraved becomes the writing.

Earthquakes And Volcanoes

It should have proven to them that the churban was upon them and should have caused a tremendous teshuvah movement.

Losing Miriam

What made this trial different? Why did Moshe momentarily lose control? Why then? Why there? He had faced just this challenge before.

A Once-In-A-Lifetime Rebbe

Whether people knew the Rebbe personally, or met him just once, or just read stories about him, each one feels a personal connection.

Faith During Darkness

Even after all of the medical procedures, both Chaya and Daniel were left with medical problems.

The Miracle Of The Sticks

The Midrash tells us that thousands of children in the desert were named Aharon because Aharon brought peace to their homes.

How To Argue

The story of Korach remains the classic example of how argument can be dishonored. The Schools of Hillel and Shammai remind us that there is another way.

Names For The Netherworld

Rabbi Pappenheim maintains that “hayaven” is derived from the root yud-nun, which means trickery or deception.

Think Twice

The Torah teaches us that when it comes to controversy and dispute even the small children can be harmed. That’s how deep and internal the evil and poison of the dispute can be.

The Religious Significance Of Israel

Whatever the subplots and subsidiary themes of the Chumash, its overarching narrative is the promise of and journey to the land. Jewish history begins with Avraham and Sarah’s journey to it. The four subsequent books of the Torah, from Exodus to Deuteronomy, are taken up with the second journey in the days of Moshe.

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