Judaism

After doing some research, Arieh discovered that his great-great-grandfather was in fact Rav Naftali Hertz HaLevi Videnboim from Bialystok, and he had been the first Chief Rabbi of Jaffa as well as a Mekubal himself.

Hillel’s Innovation “The Second Month Of Solomon’s Rule” (Rosh Hashana 2b)

How do we prevent ourselves from being sucked into this low lifestyle that the nations of the world have gotten themselves into?

One who knows of Jews who are counterfeiting money is required to report them to the authorities. So, too, Jews who engage in activities that will endanger the well-being of the Jewish community may be informed upon as well.

Imagine if a well-known atheist – say, Richard Dawkins for example, were to publicly announce that he was wrong about his atheism and that he had come to the realization that there is in fact a Creator. This would cause a massive kiddush Hashem (sanctification of G-d's name) that isn't possible for a tzaddik to accomplish.

Question: Why do we say Shalom Aleichem at Kiddush Levana, when we bless the new moon, and why do we do so three times? Is it because we have not seen a new moon for a whole month? Can you explain a little more about this mitzvah? Ira Warshansky Philadelphia, PA

Noach was the tzaddik in a fur coat. He made sure to take care of himself, his wife and children. However, he did not take care of the world at large.

What do you want from me? asked the contractor. I was not involved in doing the damage. If the worker was careless, you can sue him; speak with him directly.

While his going OTD was painful for his mother, Boruch says she still accepted him – and worried more about the types of people he was hanging with.

Noach needed to continue to adhere to the chesed he was carrying out for the animals, and not to let up for even a moment, in order that he merit to remain alive.

The visiting woman was so shaken by the tragic story that she began to sob. She couldn’t get over what happened to Yosef.

Moments like a worldwide outage can and should be opportunities to consider our own relationship with technology and time

The first thing to understand in encountering our haftara is that there is no belief in millennial destruction that is axiomatic to Judaism.

Rabbi Yishai Fleisher is joined by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman, author and professor of Tanakh at Bar-Ilan University, to talk about the secret structure in the story of Noah's Ark. 

Avot de-Rabbi Natan explains that the world is called taivel because it is “spiced up” (metubal) with Torah, so that the Midrash is emphasizing the importance of Torah in that the entire world is called taivel simply because there’s a little bit of Torah “mixed into” it.

Why does the Torah use the Name that connotes Divine mercy rather than Divine judgement when telling of the Creator's decision to destroy humankind? Could there be more to this story?

Let’s remember the litmus test for whether Hashem is happy with us is “If people are at ease with us, Hashem is at ease with us.” People are at ease with a gentle person!

You must limit your endless potential in order to make something real.

A central question in the story of Noach is why Hashem specifically chose to destroy the world through a FLOOD. Hashem could have chosen any form of destruction, and yet, He chose water. Why? 

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Is it proper to fill one's sentences with "baruch Hashem,” "im yirtzeh Hashem," and "bli neder"?

Being a grandparent has the privilege of enjoying the children, while the actual caring and challenging long hours of bringing them up, rests upon their parents.

She watched with mounting anxiety as it not only continued to burn brightly, but somehow reignited the used matches from the previous night, causing a mini bonfire on the tray!

I don't know whether to give you my Hebrew or English name, explained David, my first name or full name, with my father's name and nickname or without.

A Woman’s Oneg Yom Tov “You Shall Call The Shabbos A Delight” (Beiza 34b)

As I got older and matured, however, I came to appreciate that we Jews carry out mitzvos with simplicity for no other reason than the fact that Hashem commanded us to in His Torah.

Tishrei is with us a whole year; you're not going to leave Tishrei and Tishrei is not going to leave you. However, there is something we have to do about it – to unpack little by little all the great merchandise that we acquired during the month of Tishrei.

When we examine the lives of the fathers of our nation, we see that they had to continually confront challenges and crises.

Question: Is it possible to explain the verse “[All this is] because Abraham listened to My voice, minded My mandate, My commandments, My decrees and My teachings (Genesis 26:5)?” The latter three terms are in the plural. Rashi explains “teachings” as referring to both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. However, if the commandments and decrees are manifold, is it possible that there are many Torahs? Moshe Jakobowitz Via e-mail

There's a hidden understanding of our Torah that has yet to reach the English-speaking Jewish world.