Parsha

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to suggest that the whole reason God created man, male and female, was for us to better understand our relationship with Him.

It’s more important for me not to disappoint a fellow Jew.

The Chasmonaim were punished because they wrongfully adopted a calling that wasn’t theirs.

It's not normal to permit a reality such as this, and those living near the Gaza border have put up with it for 20 years.

In last week’s parashah, Hashem spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai. Now, it's referred to as the Desert of Sinai. Is that the same place? Since the people haven't departed the mountain yet, it must be. Yet if so, why change the reference from "mountain" to "desert"?

After my son, Rabbi Eitam, was murdered with his wife in a terrorist attack, I told my students that no one promised me that G-d is an ATM machine.

From what spiritual impurity are we being cleansed and how does counting sefirah effect this cleansing?

Even before Matan Torah, Jews studied Torah. From the days of Avraham, there never ceased to be a Torah academy among them.

Since the commandments are all meant to engender some positive effect; when a commandment is not practiced, that effect will not be attained either.

The intent of the prayer is to teach us to give thanks for surviving potentially life-threatening situations.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe emphasized that Reb Shimon was completely secluded from the world for over a decade. Now, upon returning to civilization, he immediately searches for a way to help without waiting for anyone to ask him.

R’ Yisroel Salanter asks: Would escorting him and giving him provisions have prevented his murder?

Why interrupt the halachic flow of Vayikra, a Chumash suspended in time with almost no dateable events, to tell us about a single foul-mouthed boor? 

These three years are meant to atone for Adam's sin – the sin of impatience.

The Kapishnitzer Rebbe promised her that her son would return to the fold very soon.

Logically, they knew that people in their situation are exempt. But as they witnessed all the other Jews performing such a great mitzvah, it deeply bothered them that they couldn’t join them.

Living at the height of European Romanticism and on the cusp of Nietzsche’s writings – which both contributed to a new much more pronounced interest in the individual – Netziv surely intuited the need to address the legitimate aspects of trends making inroads upon his students.

This is greatness. Not to be content with an individual solution that is beneficial only to yourself, but rather to change the accepted way things are done so that all may benefit from your experience.

One who wishes to avoid lashon hara and its consequences will constantly seek to find the good in others.

Distance has the same effect on the mind as on the eye. -Samuel Johnson

Will we still remember the importance of eating healthy now that we can again eat whatever we want outside?

You can imagine how great this person’s joy would be upon hearing this news and how he would count the days to his release from prison and his marriage to the princess.

When R’ Lopian finished speaking, the disciples were astounded to see their rebbe, R’ Schwadron, lie face down on the ground.

--and Why We Avoid it Nonetheless 

Freedom is not only about rights or privileges, but also about responsibilities.

The Hebrew word for despairing – me’ya’eish – is spelled with two yuds, which spell the name of Hashem.

The Rebbe wasn’t worrying about Lubavitcher chassidim, chassidim in general, or even observant Jews – he was worrying about one Jew who may be isolated from Torah in one corner of the world!

Freedom is the ability to strive to find the good where no one else sees it. And also to articulate it, with passion.

If the malach wouldn’t have struck him, Nevuchadnezzar would have disgraced all of David HaMelech’s praises and songs in Sefer Tehillim.

The Four Questions were composed as a prelude for the father to fulfill his biblical obligation. But what often happens is that a big to-do surrounds the Four Questions while the answers are not given the attention they deserve.