Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Chukat: Why Didn’t Miriam Cross the Jordan?
The water supply in the wilderness had been dependent on Miriam’s presence. Hence, as soon as she dies, the Jews had no water. In turn, that lack brought about Moshe's disastrous interaction at the boulder.
Yaakov’s Parenting Advice
We have read recently, in these very pages, about the difficulties facing our broader community and about the difficulties in raising our children to stay along our straight, upright, and revealed path.
Why Do We Love Shabbos?
The Kobriner Rav says (mentioned in the Nesivos Shalom-Elul), if you want to become holy, if you want to begin doing teshuva, you must start with Shabbos.
Jacob’s Gift
Jacob lives. He lives in all who can drop the heavy burden carried by all since Adam and Eve, the belief that our imperfections will block us from tasting Paradise.
Shabbos Mevorchim Nissan
"Is my husband's Olam Haba'ah really worth the sume of 1,000 ruble?"
AlephBeta: Yitro: The Marriage of God and Israel
Parshat Yitro contains the most important piece in the narrative of the Jewish people, the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, when the nation and God are 'married.
Torah Shorts: Parshat Ki Tavo: Prioritization of Honor
Honor is the reward of virtue. -Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Great Treasure Of Pirkei Avos
It is a shame that many do not open up a Pirkei Avos with a sense of thirst and exhilaration. Perhaps, if we would keep it in a glass case, and charge ten dollars per minute for a peek inside, people would better appreciate its value.
Knight Of Faith
Rav Shagar points out certain thematic similarities between the trial of Avraham and that of Iyov. But Avraham excels and demonstrates his qualities by virtue of the outcome of his test while Iyov is criticized by Chazal for his responses.
Rabbi Lord Sacks: The Art Of True Leadership
There is a deeper message in Parshat Tetzaveh - the principle of the separation of powers, which opposes the concentration of leadership into one person or institution. All human authority needs checks and balances if it is not to become corrupt. In particular, political and religious leadership (keter malchut and keter kehunah) should never be combined. Moses wore the crowns of political and prophetic leadership, Aaron that of priesthood. The division allowed each to be a check on the other.
The Barren Woman Rejoicing In Her Children
Malbim on this pasuk says that she should rejoice because she will become a mother without the travails of childbirth.
Learning From Everybody
If one who wants to be wise begins to believe of himself that he is special, then he will no longer be prepared to learn from everybody.
The Goal Of Olam Haba (Part II) – Actualizing The Afterlife
When the wicked Bilaam asked a request for himself, he said, “May my soul die the death of the righteous and may my Afterlife be like theirs.” Even the wicked Bilaam knew the reality of the Afterlife.
The Golden Mizbe’ach And The Ketoret – Mishkenei Elyon (Part II)
The nexus of all worlds, the point of conjunction of the physical and spiritual poles is the golden Mizbe’ach.
Torah Study Is Not Like Calculus
When we think this Shavuot about the revelation at Sinai, let’s remember that the Torah was given surprisingly in the midst of billowing smoke and blackness.
Chukat: Was Hitting the Rock So Horrible?
What was the small act of Moshe talking to the rock meant to teach the people of Israel?
Studying Torah While Unclean
The Gemara (Berachos 20b) states that Ezra instituted that people who contract a certain type of tumah (baal keri) may not study Torah until...
Kedoshim Tih’yu
Be Holy - It's quite a challenge to achieve, but where should one start?
Only G-d Knows
One is obligated to make a blessing on bad news, just as he makes a blessing on good tidings.
Hearing to See
I wish all of us, parents and teachers, would listen to everything our children ask and say. I dream of our hearing them so well that we can begin to visualize and relate to them as who they can be when they fulfill all their potential.
The Farmer’s Blessing
While our leaders have been shepherds, the vast majority of the Children of Israel were farmers.
Just One More Shabbos: Holding Onto The Power Of Spiritual Growth All Year
If these past 18 months taught us anything it is that no one knows what the day holds. We are not in control.
The Mitzvah Of Bikur Cholim (Part I)
Rav tells us that whoever goes to visit the sick, Nitzol m’dino shel Gehennom, will be saved from the punishment of Gehennom.
The Wondrous Mitzvah Of Tefillin (Part II)
This message of hope – that all is not lost and that one can always climb back from a spiritual morass without needing years to do so – is a vital lesson that is important to remember every day of our lives. This is one of the reminders of the tefillin.
Lekh Lekha: Avraham’s Valor
It is precisely Avraham’s valiant behavior in battle that proves the authenticity of his compassion to all of HaShem’s creatures, presenting a model of true kindness for the Hebrew nation to uphold.
A Stolen Teivah?
As long as an individual is still alive and his possessions are still intact, they belong to him – and one may not steal them.
Say Little; Do Much
A dog that barks much is never a good hunter. -Proverb
Beshalaḥ: Between Freedom & Liberation
Between the smashing of Egypt's military at the Sea of Reeds and the war against Amalek at Rephidim, the Hebrews had to develop a national perception of emuna in preparation for receiving the Torah.
TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Nitzavim: Are Bad Thoughts worse than Bad Actions?
Our repentance can retroactively cleanse the spiritual ledger. It can wipe the slate clean and allows us to start our spiritual accounting anew, refreshed, rejuvenated.
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
If Hashem is watching tzaddikim, why couldn’t He just save Yosef from all the suffering he was about to endure?