Revitalizing Our Prayers (Part Ten)
It would seem to me that the controversy centers on why we should say ‘please’ or ‘now’ just by this blessing and not by the other requests in our Shemone Esrei, such as to forgive us, or to cure us.
Long, Long Thoughts
When we think of people who, in a healthy state, go through radical changes and stages, we know of whom we think, and it is not the middle aged or retirees.
Birkat Kohanim And The Code Of Five – Parshat Naso
According to our Sages there are seven layers in Heaven (this is where the expression seventh heaven comes from). The fifth layer is called Ma'on, and it is from this layer that simcha originates.
Obstacle Course
Throughout life, a Jew is to always stand strong in the face of challenges and to choose to climb the mountain of Hashem.
Conversion As A Booster Shot
We are asked to make Kiddush over wine and we are told that wine can make one wise (Yoma 76b). But enjoying anything in moderation requires self-control and sometimes, when that becomes too difficult, the only way out is to deny oneself the pleasure altogether.
Between Man & Wife – Parshat Nasso
That HaShem forgoes His Honor for the sake of making peace between man and wife comes to teach us the importance of humbling our own egos for the sake of making our relationships work.
To Receive And Reflect His Glory
R’ David opens his remarks on Shavuot by examining the word Anochi that he identifies with the essence of truth – the secret code revealing His G-dliness, the nexus of His inscrutable justice.
What’s In It For Me (Part Two)
Why do some many people behave in such a paradoxical way? The answer is simple. When a spouse or a parent compliments their mate or their child, the act is about the other person.
Parshat Bamidbar – The Purpose of a Hebrew Army
A people's army is necessary for Israel to fulfill the Divine commandment of sovereignty over our land.
TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Bamidbar:The Trap of Sustenance
It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living. -Jean Jacques Rousseau
The Royal Family
There is no question that the nations of the world can trace their lineage; rather, their association with it is tenuous. They are not especially proud of their ancestors, and each succeeding generation believes they are wiser and more progressive than those who preceded them.
What’s In It For Me (Part I)
One school of thought is that Shavuos is the yahrzeit of Dovid HaMelech. Therefore, we lein Megillas Rus which reveals to us the wonderful beginnings of Dovid HaMelech.
Life Between Halachot
Indeed, we are sympathetic to the creative, original, strong, rebellious heroes who did not accept the status quo, who followed the rebellious artists Delacroix and Courbet, and forged their own path forward. We benefit from them to this day, as a visit to art museums in cities around the world will demonstrate.
Secret Bread Societies – Parshat Bamidbar
The Sages mistakenly interpreted this refusal as an egotistically motivated desire to maintain a monopoly, and they summarily fired the entire Garmu family.
You Can’t Do It Alone
Indeed, the only way to be convinced that our existence depends on G-d's help and not solely on our own efforts, is to try it out.
Peace Now – Parshat Bechukotai
Peace with whom?
What Do We Do On Lag BaOmer?
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai told his students that everything depends on the affability between us. Love and unity and affability are the foundation of everything.
A Blessing Within a Curse – Parshat Bechukotai
Israel's deep spiritual connection to our homeland – like the connection of the soul to the body – transcends all rational human understandings.
Towards a Hebrew Economy – Parshat Behar
Israel must organize its society in such a way that reflects Hebrew values while transcending the friction between conflicting economic models.
Never Lose Faith
First, gird yourself with the middah of bitachon; then you can do good. Fidelity and devotion to Hashem are foundations upon which a person can build his life.
Social Contagions And Our Responsibility
The meaning of a kingdom of priests is that each community has a leader which is most honored in it, and serves as its exemplar that people in that community follow, and they find the straight path through him.
Revitalizing Our Prayers (Part Nine)
It would seem to me that the word slach points to the former opinion – that it is a total forgiveness, since it is the same letters as the word chasal, which means to ‘finish completely.’
Getting Ready To Receive The Torah
Originally, before its modern association with Sefirat HaOmer, Pirkei Avot consisted of only five chapters. This is why, for example, the Rambam’s commentary only addresses the first five. In this spirit there are also, of course, five books of the Torah.
Holy to Their God – Parshat Emor
Being different from others not for the sake of Hashem is simply supercilious haughtiness.
Pesach Sheni & The Secret Power of Israel’s Second Month
Pesach Sheni constitutes the first Hebrew festival established 'from below' & sets the precedent for all the holidays that would later fill the month of Iyar.
Failing to Recognize Failure
What Giannis and Frum Influencers Got Wrong
Torah Shorts: Parshat Emor: Holy Daughter, Sister, Mother
Other things may change us, but we start and end with family. -Anthony Brandt
National Responsibility – Parshat Emor
The awareness that Israel is the national expression of HaShem in this world and that our conduct is a direct reflection of His Divine Ideal should fill us with a deep sense of tremendous responsibility.
Three Reasons Why
Sometimes, it is not we who grasp a concept or experience; rather, some concept or experience grasps us.
When Questions Did Kill
One doesn’t die from a question
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