Judaism

the Talmud explains that a judge must not take a bribe even if it is in order to acquit the innocent and accuse the guilty. Accepting a bribe is wrong even if the verdict issued is ultimately correct!

Rav Kook's gift for the days of Elul.

If having a king is a good thing, why does God say that it means that the people are rejecting Him? If it is a bad thing, why does God tell Samuel to give the people what they want even if it is not what God would wish them to want?

And yet G-d himself presents himself, so to speak, on a very simple level so that anyone can just go up to him and talk.

my reply to those who seem to groan when they hear about the 40 days of Selichot, my answer is that I love them and look forward each year to reciting them

Our powers of self-justification mean money is as much a danger for us as for a judge. Given two options, we, like Rashi’s judges, will become sure, the claim which benefits us is also the truer claim. Like Rashi’s judges, we need to guard ourselves from slipping away from truth without realizing it.

What is true for getting out of our geographical bubble is equally if not more true for breaking through our religious bubble. We live under artificial labels and tend to limit our religious exposure to those who think, practice and observe just like us. When we pigeonhole ourselves we deprive ourselves from taking the best of what different Torah groups and cultures have to offer.

The last month of the Jewish calendar is actually the most important – serving as preparation for the High Holidays.

Here I am with everything. All of my facilities. Youth. Strength. Looks. Money. Degree of talent. Family. Health. And after all of that and more, I think I'm miserable? It can't be. Something's got to change.

On the opposite side of the spectrum you have the “left.” These are the people who essentially believe that Israel is a modern country that should not be guided by its ancient Torah and traditions.

Remarkably, despite the exiles and horrors of history, Jews did not see themselves as victims. This is the message Moses imparts throughout sefer Devarim: Never define yourself as a victim

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The tremendous blessing of Hatzolah became even more clear when the paramedic rescue services showed up at the house forty-five minutes after Hatzolah had already left!

Danger Or Dilution? 'From That Allowed To Jews' (Menachos 5a)

Heshy's head was swirling with the many new requests. Is it better to give more charity or loans? How much should I lend? To whom? What risks should I take?

Question: How do we know there is an olam haba – a world to come? L. Papirmeister

In this week’s parshah, as Bnei Yisrael are about to enter Eretz Yisrael, the Torah commands us in the mitzvah of shechitah. The pasuk says,...

Chazal tell us that brazenness will increase during the pre-Messianic period. And yet, a pillar of Torah life is deference to the previous generation. So how do we reconcile the two points and explain the level of chutzpah among us?

Love is a contagious mitzvah: When others see someone whose life is motivated by the love of G‑d, they unfold their wings to fly along with him or her.

This week's portion, Re'ei, speaks of our need for a sense of place, how difficult it often is to find, and how we must protect others' sense of place. It also guides us in how to manage the experience of no place

In view of the seeming sanctity that the Torah imparts to blood, why would it tell us to spill animal blood indiscriminately?

Really, we should be saying thank you non-stop, but obviously that would make it difficult to live a normal life.

If a time was set for the partnership – for example, until the end of August – you must stay until that time and then you may dissolve the partnership.

Question: How do we know that there is an olam haba – a world to come? L. Papirmeister

A Light Unto The Nations ‘The Sound Thereof Traveled From One End…To The Other” (Zevachim 116a)

Finding appropriate company for Shabbos was a challenge of its own. No longer a youngster, my mother did not enjoy coming to our homes and she did not appreciate large families with many children coming to hers.

Our connection to the Torah is the only way we have survived this long and bitter galus.

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The myth of Narcissus is not a myth at all-127 people have died worshiping their own image.

The mitzvos teach a Jew restraint and free him from the servitude of things having to materialize instantaneously. Jewish family life presents the apogee of constraint. The message presents itself over and over again and is so clear.