Judaism

Yeru and Shalem – Yerushalayim

Holidays Rabbi Yonatan Kirsch

Yerushalayim was and always will be a city of unity — but unity of what? What do “Yeru” and “Shalem” each represent?

Punished for Keeping a Mitzvah

In Print Naomi Brudner

A promise is a promise and it'll only take me a minute, I can surely do this without any problems!

Pay or Replace?

In Print Rabbi Meir Orlian

If you wouldn’t have a spare copy, you’d have to pay cash, so it’s not fair to make me accept your spare copy!

Daf Yomi

In Print Rabbi Yaakov Klass

Posthaste ‘And He Simply Uttered Bread’ (Shavuos 26b)

Q & A: K’chut Ha’sa’ara: Harsh Punishment (Part I)

In Print Rabbi Yaakov Klass

Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiva’s students. If he was so great, we can assume that his students were of a superior caliber as well. How did they rate such a harsh punishment? Zelig Aronson Queens, N.Y.

Yom Yerushalayim: Our Gratitude and Prayers

In Print Rabbi Reuven Taragin

In a city torn by conflict, we remember: Yerushalayim is meant to unite us – with each other, and with Hashem.

The Chronological Imagination

In Print Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

Words can injure and inspire. Words can bless or curse. Words can create new moral facts, such as when we make a promise.

50 Years – The Productive Life of Man

In Print Raphael Grunfeld

Indeed the laws of Shemittah were meant to be given at Har Sinai because the original plan was that we would enter the land of Israel a short while later, not forty years later.

The Good News: Parashat Bechukotai

Parsha Larry Domnitch

Unlike the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land, the return to Zion in modern times has been a natural event within the confines of nature.

The Limits of the Free Market: Behar-Bechukotai

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l

“Torah study without an occupation will in the end fail and lead to sin.” Avot 2:2

The Land Wants Its Shabbat

In Print Avraham Levitt

One possible explanation that Rashi finds in the Midrash is that all of the general principles were received at Har Sinai; however, many of the specifics were taught by Moshe in the land of Moav immediately before the crossing of the Yarden.

TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Behar – Bechukotai: Faith, Famine, Feast, Food

Parsha Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz

Faith is not certainty. It is the courage to live with uncertainty.— Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Why Is Shavuos Different

Parsha Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss

Torah does not have a set place. It can be found anywhere. It should be found everywhere.

He is Your Brother

Parsha Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser

When a person appears before the Heavenly Court, he is asked whether he properly fulfilled the mitzvah of you shall strengthen him.

Parsha Pairs

In Print Phil Chernofsky

With the third double sedra in four weeks, it’s a good time to take a closer look at the double sedra story.

Cutting Out Sinning

In Print Rabbi Simcha Feuerman

What is this oath that was made at Mount Sinai? We might assume that it is referring to the covenant that the Jewish people made there. While not literally an oath, and certainly not one actually made by each inhabitant of every century, it is somehow considered binding on the entire people and its descendants.

Deepening Our Understanding of Sefiras HaOmer and Shavuos

In Print Rabbi Shmuel Reichman

Words can injure and inspire. Words can bless or curse. Words can create new moral facts, such as when we make a promise.

Sing Together

In Print Rabbi Dani Staum

Perhaps when [Mashiach] comes, we will all sing hava nagila together.

Heightened Awareness

In Print Eliezer Meir Saidel

Detach yourself from the illusions of this world and focus on the true realities of the world and Who determines them…. Today you do not take care of yourselves, I take care of you.

Parshas Behar-Bechukosai

In Print Rabbi Yaakov Klass

Army Service as the Antidote to the Mourning of the Omer

Judaism Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander

The light of togetherness, commitment and Torah in action will help us move toward the receiving of the Torah that Jews commemorate on Shavuot.

Positive Words, Positive Worlds

In Print Talya Gross

The front of the car where the engine was had burnt to a crisp, and all the windows were shattered.

Consumer Price Index

In Print Rabbi Meir Orlian

I don’t see why this should be ribbis. I’m not gaining anything; I’m just recouping my loss...

Daf Yomi

In Print Rabbi Yaakov Klass

K’vod HaBriyos – Human Dignity ‘… Excluding Where He Was Preoccupied’ (Shavuos 18b-19a)

Lag B’Omer: A Time of Joy, Resilience and Hope for the Future

Holidays Dr. Chaim Botwinick

Have an enjoyable Lag B’Omer, beautiful Shabbat and a joyous and safe Chag Shavuot.

Q & A: A Sefirah Dilemma – Conclusion

In Print Rabbi Yaakov Klass

Question: Were these individuals allowed to lead the congregation in counting sefirah? I also wonder, in general, if everyone may be trusted to lead the counting. What if someone forgot to count on one of the previous nights but does not inform anyone of this? Name withheld Via E-mail

Creation Appreciation

In Print Rabbi Reuven Taragin

One who truly loves Hashem, loves everything He creates. By loving and showing respect to His creations, we, in essence, show respect to Hashem Himself.

To Live Is To Know

Parsha Avraham Levitt

As we exist in the world and interact with it, we receive input and understand our surroundings by means of the data we collect, chiefly by way of our senses. But because we also have the ability to communicate with one another, we learn much useful information about the world from each another.

Eretz Yisrael and the Secrets of Torah

Judaism Tzvi Fishman

The bonfires of Lag B’Omer symbolize the secrets of Torah which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai revealed.

By Appointment of the King

Parsha Raphael Grunfeld

When Yosef related his dreams to his brothers and to his father, his brothers became jealous of him. Not his father. His father shamar es ha’davar, kept it in mind and looked forward to the time when Yosef’s dreams would come true (Rashi to Bereishis 37:11).