Redeeming Relevance: Esav: The Off the Derekh Patriarch
Rav Hirsch famously criticizes Yitzchak and Rivkah for not educating Esav according to his innate personality, and instead trying to force him to be like Ya’akov. His insight is meant to teach that while it was Esav that made the choice to go ‘off the derekh,’ there is always much that parents can try to do before that happens.
Harvard Researchers Found that Children Who Do This Have Lower Risks of Mental Illness
Erica Komisar wrote in the Wall Street Journal: As a therapist, I’m often asked to explain why depression and anxiety are so common among children and adolescents. One of the most important explanations—and perhaps the most neglected—is declining interest in religion. This cultural shift already has proved disastrous for millions of vulnerable young people.
My Favorite Verse
The revolution of Yitzchak is different – not to rebel, but to toe the line, to continue the tradition, to dig the same wells.
Heavenly Accounting
Hi, I just received a delivery and I found quarter of a watermelon that I didn’t take. Can you check if I paid for it?
Can You Replace A Bottle In A Hotel Mini-Bar?
Rabbi Dayan said, To replace the juice from the mini-bar with a bottle from the store would be cheating the hotel.
Q & A: Forgetting To Mention Rain In The Amidah (Part I)
Question: Recently the chazzan in my shul created a stir when he didn’t include the proper mention of rain during chazaras hashatz. Our rabbi didn’t require him to repeat the Amidah, but many congregants felt the rabbi erred and murmured their discontent. Who was right and how can we, in a tactful way, prevent such a lapse from occurring again?
A Concerned Congregant
Decision To Arrest The Schneerson Rabbanim
It is said of our ancestor Avraham that he didn’t seek to serve Hashem with mesiras nefesh, yet, when it was required of him, he was ready to give up everything for Hashem’s sake.
Castle In The Sky
“Apadna” appears once in the Bible (Daniel 11:45), and the commentators explain that it denotes a palace. In the Talmud, “apadna” sometimes means, not a palace, but a den that is especially grand or kingly.
When Time Flies
Time drags on when we are afraid and really does fly when we’re having fun.
Light In Dark Times
It is at these points of maximal vulnerability that he encounters G-d and finds the courage to continue despite all the hazards of the journey.
A Powerful Story (Part II)
The very first lesson is that we must be very careful not to hurt someone’s feelings. Sometimes, hurting someone deeply can have a long-lasting effect and impede us from success in our own lives.
Daf Yomi
Accepted Custom
‘We Burn at the Sixth’
(Pesachim 11b)
What Heartfelt Prayers Can Do
According to a familiar adage of Vishnitzer chassidim, a tear shed during prayer is more powerful than many fasts.
My Bubby’s Tree
We all come from a special tree that belongs just to our family. Yes, all the trees together make up the forest, or the orchard. However, each tree in itself is special and one of a kind.
Parshat Va-Yetzei: When They Go Low, Sometimes It’s Ok to Go Low
This week’s parsha is one place to see other valid options for how to deal with the underhanded. Know when to take the high-road; know when to go low
Daf Yomi
A Matter Of Resolve
‘The One Who Searches [For Chametz] Recites A Berachah’
(Pesachim 7a)
The Election And Hashem’s Master Plan
It’s not simply that there is no room for such questions, rather we would be fools not to stop and think about why He chose this outcome.
Stay Focused – A Tip From Angels
If we are learning Torah at a particular moment, then that is our mission at that moment, without allowance for any distractions.
Toledot: Jewish Genealogy
Jews the world over can pride themselves in their descent from such moral pillars as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (and Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah).
Can You Rely On Others To Watch An Object?
One day, the elderly Mrs. Miller returned from some errands and found that the house had been robbed. When word got back to Mrs. Rosen, she asked the Millers to pay her the value of her stolen jewelry.
The Height Of Divine Providence
Nice story. But how the shidduch came about… that’s something incredible.
A Powerful Story (Part I)
Reb Yosef went over to him and gave him the 200 golden coins. The man looked at him incredulously and said, “I don’t even know you. Why are you doing this kindness?”
A Tribute To Lion Of Justice Norman Rosenbaum, z”l (Part 2)
Nelson’s pocket contained a bloody switchblade with the word “killer” inscribed on the handle. In that same pants pocket were three bloodstained one-dollar bills. The bloodstains were consistent with Rosenbaum’s blood type but not Nelson’s.
We Always Have a Choice
Every person has the free will to use his traits to become a tzaddik or a rasha.
TORAH SHORTS: A Tale of Bitter Rivalry: Parshat Toldot
Enemies' promises were made to be broken. -Aesop
Communication Matters
Isaac never intended to give the blessing of the covenant to Esau. He intended to give each child the blessing that suited them.
Q & A: The First To Repent
Question: Both Adam and Cain repented, yet our sages extol Reuben, who lived many generations later, as the first man to repent. Why?
Moshe Jakobowitz
Secret Soviet Interrogations (Part VI)
This story illustrates the Rebbe Rayatz’s prophetic vision because, during the Holocaust, Rabbi Zalman Schneerson saved hundreds of Jewish families and children in France from the Nazis.
Boys And Girls (Part II)
A whole slew of other words also come from ayin-lammed, including “elyon” (high), “l’maaleh” (up), “oleh” (elevate), “aleh” (leaf, which grows on a branch), “ohl” (yoke, which placed on an animal), “meil (tunic, which is worn on top of other clothing), “na'al” (shoe, which is worn on top of the foot), etc.