Chance Encounters
It was a wretched situation for my father, my mother and me – an only child – who had left my job to look after my mother; we had no idea where to turn, what to do.
Confiscated Calculator Calculations
Mr. Berger is considered a shomer chinam since he has no gain, even incidental, from guarding the calculator.
Daf Yomi
Painting Tefillin Straps Black
“He May Go Over the Letters With a Pen”
(Gittin 20a)
Washing Hands – Parshat Behaalotecha
The minhag of washing the Cohen's hands for Birkat Kohanim is not arbitrary.
Our Need For Personal Growth
We are not created as a finished product, but, rather, with the need and responsibility to develop ourselves properly.
Q & A: Coins, Sculptures, And Graven Images (Part III)
Question: Is one allowed to go to Madam Tassaud’s Wax Museum? Is this not a violation of the Torah’s prohibition of graven images?
Ben Moseson
Via email
The Pintela Yid Never Dies
In front of me the story of Am Yisrael came alive. The world may proclaim our end but here we are. One must only kindle the flame. The spark is never extinguished.
Summertime, A Time For Yiddishkeit
The guiding factor is that Hashem did not make anything without a reason. If a certain reality exists, then it must be another opportunity to add in avodas Hashem – the service of G-d.
Nature, Nurture, And Human Effort
Some commentators state that it is simply a way of complimenting his fine character. Others connect the praise more directly to his mother. But why should his mother get the credit for his character?
The Return of Prophecy – Parshat B’haalotcha
Through Israel's returns home and national rebirth, we have already seen sparks of prophecy return.
The Dedication Of The Mishkan On The Day Of Its Anointing
Each of the leaders of the tribes brings a gift which is identical to the gifts of every other one. The Torah relates the gift of each and every tribe in detail, in spite of the fact that they are all the same.
From Despair To Hope
To be a Jew is to seek to make a difference, to change lives for the better, to heal some of the scars of our fractured world. But people don’t like change.
Berachos And Klalos: Bounty And Boundaries (Part II)
Only when we negate our egos and acknowledge that the goodness and beracha in our lives comes not from our own independent efforts but from Hashem, can we then receive more beracha.
Salvation
A person should walk in the ways of Hashem and accord mercy and kindness to people and other members of Creation.
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.
The Meaning And Various Categories Of Semicha – Rabbinic Ordination (Part II)
It is noted that in past generations there were very few individuals who had semicha, let alone were practicing rabbis, while today everyone seems to have semicha.
Learning The Ropes
In this passage, three different words are used for “rope” or “string”: chevel, tikvah, and chut. This essay attempts to trace the etymology of those words, seeking to clarify exactly how they relate to one another.
Is it proper to give your children a phone/smartphone? If so, what age makes...
The more complicated question is whether we should give our children a smartphone at all or at a young age.
Honest Plea
When it comes to both parenting and teaching, we don’t like to watch children make mistakes. We also don’t like having to take the time and energy to enforce the consequences of those mistakes.
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.
Just Another Bris?!
He continued with his barrage of insults, which The Jewish Press surely would find unfit to print, and this was in front of the whole congregation. Thousands of men became silent, trying to understand what Reb Chaim did to deserve such treatment.
Q & A: Coins, Sculptures, And Graven Images (Part II)
Question: Is one allowed to go to Madam Tassaud’s Wax Museum? Is this not a violation of the Torah’s prohibition of graven images?
Ben Moseson
Via email
Redemption Of A Heritage Field During Yovel
At the time of Megillas Rus, the Yovel – Jubilee year – was in force, replied Rabbi Dayan. If a person sold a field that was his sedei achuza – ancestral heritage from when the Land of Israel was first divided – it would return to him in Yovel.
Daf Yomi
Last Will And Testament
“A Deathbed Request Is As Sealed And Delivered”
(Gitin 14b)
What Makes Excellence – Character Or Intelligence?
Perhaps, instead of framing these as debates in terms of which one is superior (intelligence versus character, fluid intelligence versus crystallized intelligence), it would be beneficial to take a different approach to this issue.
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.
Gittin, Daf 12: Enjoy Your Wealth
If a person is wealthy enough to own a field, why would he think that he would be able to keep the corner of the field, which is designated for poor people? Presumably, he would be excluded from the corner of any field, let alone his own!
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