Judaism

For us, the words of the Maharal ring true in our contemporary times! Hashem is revealing to us, notwithstanding the tragic and heartbreaking casualties of precious Jewish lives, that He is with us every step of the way.

There are a number of reasons why one should not go around barefoot. One of the reasons is that this is considered to be immodest and undignified.

A fascinating footnote to Israeli History: Prime Minister Menachem Begin would seek to move Yom HaShoah to Tisha B'Av following his meeting with Rav Soloveitchik in 1977.

In our house we stopped serving leftovers. It just wasn’t worth the battle. So now when our children ask on Monday what’s for supper? the answer is Shabbos delicacies! True, the foods may be the same as what graced our Shabbos table, but they aren’t leftovers; now they are delicacies!

There may be nothing more enchanting, mystical, and mysterious than the wonder of music. It has the ability to reach the very root of our soul.

It should be noted, though, that even when giving a gift to non-Jews is permitted, there is an additional concern with giving it on his or her holiday.

So many precious lives have already been taken from us and we do not know when this period will pass. Everything passes however. When one is in the middle of something terrible it is so hard to see the light that will eventually come.

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My eyes tear up each morning when the name of another soldier fallen in battle is announced on the 6 a.m. news.

I don’t think it’s a problem, said the secretary. Each person is probably happy to eat what he or she is used to. If I order everything kosher, it will come out $100 to $200 more.

Staying Alive Underwater ‘She Has Already Ascended’ (Bava Kamma 50a)

The meal Yosef prepared for his brothers is associated with the Shabbat meal, with a hint of Chanukah.

Question: My husband and I are Ashkenazi, yet my children go to school with Sefardim. My son came home and said that only my husband is to light the Chanukah candles. In my parent’s home, we all lit our own candles on Chanukah to celebrate the great miracle that saved our people for all future generations. Who is correct? Name Withheld Via E-Mail

Over the years, the Rebbe sent him to me several times to help him with what he needed. Baruch Hashem, I had the zechus of helping him and of getting to know him up close.

This is a time that we need to dig deeper, muster all of our energy, courage and resources to stand tall and proud and to be practicing Jews.

The Royal Butler realized that there was a higher power here than Yosef and Pharaoh. He noted, and just as he had interpreted, so it was, despite the fact that the transgression of the two – the butler and the baker – were the same.

Did Yosef seek to transform Egypt into a civilization built on Hebrew values that would repair the world?

We know Yosef never forgot his father. Even though he no longer lived next to him, his father was an ever-present influence wherever he went and whatever he did.

The original psychology that began with Freud’s work came from a western medical model, focusing on the symptoms, disorder and pathology.

When they do not contain a clear message and require interpretation, a crucial question arises: Who is empowered to interpret the dream?

Yosef was a living Shulchan Lechem HaPanim; through him Hashem channeled sustenance and prosperity to the entire world.

This outcome is anticipated in the Torah, the blueprint of Creation, according to which the intent was always for kings to arise and, in time, to fall.

Joseph has the misfortune of being the youngest. He symbolizes the Jewish condition. His brothers are older and stronger than he is. They resent his presence. They see him as a trouble maker. The fact that their father loves him only makes them angrier and more resentful.

Neither Yosef nor Yehudah panicked. They did not know how the next parsha would begin, but they did know that the larger story had to have a happy ending.

The Maharal reconciles the two Gemaras by explaining that indeed, normally, it is necessary to broadcast the miracle to the outside.

Hashem’s first words to the first Jew direct him to move to Israel. Though Avraham’s religious quest and commitment began decades earlier, the Torah skips those stories and begins with his move to Israel. Judaism begins with the arrival of the first Jew in Israel.

As a conditional get is shrouded in controversy, many poskim preferred instead a conventional get.

A mourner whose hair grows long as a result of the prohibition against taking a haircut, or one who decides to become a nazir, is excused from any halachic concerns related to long hair or chatzitza.

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The conception of beauty was a fundamental point of contention in the battle between the Jewish People and the Greeks. The Greeks did not believe in using the physical to reflect anything higher; they viewed physical beauty as an end unto itself.