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In all the Torah, restraint is most strongly exemplified by Avraham Avinu working against every human impulse he had, and Yitzchak, holding very still as his elderly father bound him tightly to slaughter him at Hashem’s mysterious command.

While there is a growing surge to read the Akeidah as a “misunderstood test” (an interpretation that has prima facie appeal), it is difficult to accept this conclusion when the Akeidah possesses a central place in our prayers and the Bible itself.

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His music represents a departure from most frum Jewish music written in the last 100 years, which centers lyrics, almost entirely unaltered, from Tanach and other classic Jewish sources, set to “Jewish music,” and even that music is often borrowed – from secular pop music.

It is a time for forgiveness, repentance, and building character traits like being humble, kind, optimistic, and grateful. It is also time of reflection and return. It’s a return not only to our heritage, but to our true inner selves.

The last time I did this, I had to wait three hours in the clinic. The tears welled up in my eyes. It was the straw breaking the camel’s back. I am the camel.

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An unpublished manuscript I acquired recently by one of the greatest Italian Rabbis of the 18th century was an exciting find for me. Being a collection of halachic rulings and chiddushim, it was written by Rabbi Yishmael Ha-Kohen, rabbi of Modena.

Few people know that Bloch was also an accomplished photographer, a passion that began early in his teens and through which medium he further exhibits his extraordinary compositional skills.

They say Hashem provides the cure before the disease; sometimes, like Avraham Avinu, we need only open our eyes and acknowledge how Hashem has placed those who can help us within our midst.

Hashem transcends time, existing in the past, present and future simultaneously. If we ask Hashem to judge us based solely on our existence in this frozen moment, we would fail miserably.

This was an extraordinary ram, one of G-d’s final creations made at the end of the six days of creation just before the first Shabbos (Avos 5:6). Its mission was predestined 2,000 years before it was called into service.

Since Hashem had all of this foreknowledge, wouldn’t it have been kinder for Him to create a small, weak animal to deposit in the thicket for Avraham to find?

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A pot of coffee for the two of us, six gingersnaps and a buttered pita with jam ingested by Hubby, and I am now feeling marginally less destroyed.

Although the Pavilion drew broad and favorable media coverage and won awards, it ultimately failed in its greater purpose: to sell the nations of the world on the idea that Jewish resettlement of Eretz Yisrael was both a solution to the Jewish Question and in the interests of the international community.

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So, what's a Jew living in the Diaspora to do with that feeling, if they are currently not in a position to pick up and move there?

While classically the Diaspora refers to geographic relocation and isolation, I can’t help but think about individuals who feel isolated from their communities as if in personal diasporas.

To all my loved ones and friends, and to everyone I know, when the time is right for you, leave the Diaspora and come join me.

Life rarely moves forward in a straight line. Likewise, we should not feel obliged to follow a logical and direct progression in our spiritual development.

At the same time, I yearn for the homeland. Israel is such a unique place. As comfortable as I am in the Diaspora, there is an inner call to return home.

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It is impossible for anyone (even the best doctors), to know exactly which medication will fit which patient until they are tried. The dosage is also something which must be determined with great care.

In some of his book catalogs that have survived, as well as ads he placed in newspapers promoting his bookstore, we find many titles from European presses of the day, indicating that he was in close contact with the printing presses of Europe.

A medical maverick, he frequently challenged prevailing medical norms, maintaining his faith in his own theories and abilities in the face of strong opposition, and he was colorful and combative when defending his most enduring contributions to medicine.

I was always amazed by the lyrics of the Israeli folk song, Yesh lanu tayish, l’tayish yesh zakan – We have a goat, our goat has a beard…

I constantly struggle over the meaning of external manifestations of inner feelings. If I am feeling a certain way on the inside, is there any value in expressing it externally?

There is something beautiful about being instantly, recognizably Jewish. I have traveled bearded to seven continents and met all kinds of people who see the beard, tzitzes, and yarmulka and want to learn more.