Judaism

Should a frum Jew take special pride in famous people who were Jewish but not frum and whose achievements have no evident connection to Judaism (e.g., Walter Rathenau, Richard Feynman, Danny Kaye, Bobby Fischer, Milton Friedman, Jascha Heifetz…)?

What is it that makes a person stop and look at a cute little baby and even take the time to smile and say hello?

A few years ago, I realized something that changed the way I look at Tisha B’Av and while I can’t say I look forward to Tisha B’Av I started to focus on what I call “The Tisha B’Av of Today”. I focus on the national tragedies of what is happening right now – and what I can do to prevent them from continuing.

Question: If the fast of Tisha B’Av concludes the mourning period for the destruction of the Temple, why wait until the 15th of Av to rejoice? Sara Gutman

...the Torah is telling us that Og was so big and strong even as a baby that he needed a metal crib to contain him; otherwise he would have broken his bed.

The Contradiction That Yielded 50 Explanations 'He Says to His Maidservant: You Are Free' (Temura 25b)

Originally, the brothers condemned Yosef for being a rodef, but in the end they were haggling over his clothing and extra shoes.

What was so unique at Sinai? What was different then? What do our sages mean when they state that we were “as one person with one heart”?

If you are not attuned to the right frequency, then all of the signals in the world will pass you by.

It is the easiest to only praise, to be "all smiles and hearts," but if you truly care about someone, you do not flatter him. You help him become better.

Question: Since learning Torah on Tisha B’Av is forbidden, why are we allowed to read from the Torah at Shacharit and Mincha of Tisha B’Av? (And is an aveil also forbidden to learn Torah?) Menachem

What could Brigadier General Samuel want to speak about in a lecture about Judaism?

We should thus be on the lookout during the day for auspicious times to daven (i.e., right after performing a mitzvah).

Whichever explanation of “taguru” is correct, the message of the pasuk is about fear. Fear of another human being cannot be a factor when pursuing justice.

"How much is the whole horse worth?" Feivel asked. "Go sell it and I'll pay you the difference to buy a new horse."

The astronauts, too, had to follow every detail of their instructions, utterly negating their own desires.

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

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

The word eichah is a word we heard from Moshe Rabbenu, calling us to realize we weren’t aiming as high as we could. We could have heeded it then, and put ourselves on a better path. We heard it centuries later, a call to see how we were setting ourselves up for destruction. Two calls we unfortunately ignored, leading to the third eichah, which continues to ring in our hardened ears.

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.

Was Shmuel Not The Greatest? ‘3,000 Halachos Were Forgotten’ (Temurah 16a)

A truly poor person can receive a large amount of charity at once, even beyond his needs, replied Rabbi Dayan.

The Jewish people’s affairs are connected with, and depend on, the Torah in its entirety...

The Baal Shem Tov told his disciples that all the dozens of journeys detailed in this parshah exist also in each person's life – from the day of his birth to the day he leaves this world. In every journey, one has to move upwards and learn something new.

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

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.

Question: Why is saying Shehecheyanu prohibited during the Three Weeks? How is it different than other blessings? M. Jakobowitz Philadelphia, PA

Before bathing, one must honestly assess whether or not it is needed for hygienic purposes. Failure to do so displays insensitivity to mourning the Beit HaMikdash and our nation's exile.

Even though we generally abstain from taking oaths nowadays, figuring out other ways to up the ante and solidify our commitment is essential.