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Moshe's punishment came, counter-intuitively, to prove coercion comes at a cost

The life-changing idea of Chukat: we are dust of the earth but there is within us the breath of God. We fail, but we can still achieve greatness. We die, but the best part of us lives on.

It made a profound impression on my husband and he decided he was going to call up some of his relatives and maybe even long lost friends whom he’d barely spoken to in years – not for any particular reason but because they’d just lost touch.

The essential fault that they made was that they were not commanded to find a replacement to represent them.

Very often, we take our status as members of the chosen nation for granted. We should remember, though, that we can lose that status by our actions. Born a Jew, always a Jew – but not necessarily Jewish.

All the suffering that has been our lot since the day the Temple was destroyed is a result of our exiled state. This is why we mourn the destruction of the Temples.

The story of Korach has much to teach us about one of the most disturbing phenomena of our time: the rise of populism in...

I calculated on my fingers. She was now up to week 27. Yehuda hung up, but he sounded very upset. I wished I could help, but I had no idea what to do. So, I turned to my Tehillim.

I ask for her name and where she is from. She tells me her name is Orit and that she comes from Israel.

What Korach doesn’t realize is that he’s been manipulated by his friends while convincing himself otherwise. He allowed himself to be used by his friends while thinking that he was using them.

The ongoing saga of the incarceration and punitive pursuit of Shalom Rubashkin.

All of these children, including my son, take an enormous amount of physical care. It is not a simple matter. And yet, taking care of such special children is an honor.

For too long, people have thought that religion and science are destined to be in conflict.

The purpose of genuine religious life is to protest against this optical illusion and to teach us to reframe our spiritual spectacles. It is not that religion shows us something new. It shows us what we have seen all our lives but have never noticed.

Our son understood that Aviv, up until this point in his life, had failed in everything. The army was his last chance to succeed.

How do misunderstandings arise? Often the cause is a kind of egocentrism – the belief that other people think the same way we do, especially if these people belong to “us.”

Peeling paint and mismatched chairs were not the only signs of deprivation in the Cohen’s Yerushalmi home.

Now we ask ourselves, what is the purpose of being part of a korban pesach group if one does not get to eat the korban?

In this week’s parsha, Moshe reaches his lowest ebb. What is striking is the depth of Moses’ despair, the candor with which he expresses it, and the blazing honesty of the Torah in telling us this story.

Ran, this great talmudist and thinker launched a theory in which he argued that Judaism does not subscribe to the idea of a full-fledged theocracy, but in fact favors a halachic democracy

Royalty is a concept that brings respect and awe to whoever thinks about the true essence of the word.

As anyone can testify, celebrating the Jewish festivals in Israel is an act of supreme delight. The festivals are invested with a very special spirit that cannot be experienced anywhere else. No other land can compete with the Land of Israel!

Last night, my late uncle appeared to my sister in a dream and said that the reason our father is ill is because he didn’t sit shiva for my uncle.

The Rishonim are bothered by the obvious question: what is the purpose of going to Har Sinai if we would not have received the Torah?

The challenge that emerges from the way the Torah describes taking a census is that we must “lift people’s heads.” Never let them feel as if they are merely a number. Make those you meet feel important, especially the people whom others tend to take for granted.

Sometimes we are so busy looking for the next great thing to plan and prepare for that we seem to forget that the simplest things in life, and finding happiness in those tremendous simplicities.

In Bamidbar, the fledgling Jewish nation is ready to move on. This time they are looking forward, not back. They are thinking not of the danger they are fleeing from but of the destination they are traveling toward, the Promised Land.

Jews everywhere are proud of their unhesitating acceptance of the Torah and of its wonderful teachings.

The ongoing saga of the incarceration and punitive pursuit of Shalom Rubashkin.

Hearing the argument, Reb Chaim jumped out of his seat and ran to the front of the bus. He withdrew some cash from his pocket, gave it to the driver on behalf of the anonymous fellow, and then returned to his seat.