Columns

A leader who fails to work for change is not a leader. But a leader who attempts too much change in too short a time will fail.

We are each endowed with our own unique potential, and everything in our life – down to the smallest detail – is here to help us fulfill our unique role.

Although I sincerely asked for mechila on every subsequent visit, she refused to accept my money or my apology. Instead she unequivocally announced, I don’t want to talk to you! and proceeded to ignore me.

These are important fights, good fights, whose outcome will affect more than Jews.

When you look at a beautiful sunset on the beach, where exactly is the location of beauty? Is it the sunset? The reflection on the water? The contrast of the beach against the sunset? It’s none of them and all of them.

How many times does Hashem save us without our even knowing? Most of the time our bodies function, our appliances work, things go smoothly, and we aren’t even aware.

It is less reason than emotion that lies behind our choices, and it takes emotional intelligence to make good choices.

On the one hand, we all believe that we are unique and special. On the other hand, we sometimes struggle to experience our individuality, feeling almost lost in the crowd.

Needless to say, in true Murphy’s Law fashion, I somehow managed to tip over the half-prepared bottle, thereby spilling powdered baby formula and liquid semi-prepared formula all over the dining room table, and wasting most of the powder in the sectioned-off Materna compartment.

Leadership is a role. It is not an identity. It is not who we are. Therefore, a leader should never take an attack on their leadership personally.

When you see something, you experience it all at once; there’s no process, no surprises. When hearing, when taking a journey, there can be a long-winding path, twisting and turning in all directions, leading you on a seemingly endless quest.

The next morning when I woke up at dawn, the wind sounded fierce outside. I could hear frightening noises of destruction, but it was still too dark to see outside, and anyway as soon as I turned my phone on, there were all kinds of warnings to stay away from windows.

Everyone is aware of the Rebbe’s great leadership and his vast effort to revitalize and elevate the prestige of Judaism among Jews everywhere. However, not everyone is aware of the Rebbe’s greatness as a Torah scholar.

People with the growth mindset react differently. They don't just seek challenge; they thrive on it. The bigger the challenge, the more they stretch.

The spiritual concept of seeing is the idea of observing something as it is, i.e., in a completely static state, lacking any movement. When you see a picture, you grasp the entire image instantaneously.

My mother insisted that I give this woman a hug. I refused. My mother continued to coax me to hug her and I resisted. Little by little my mother got me to go to her. I don’t exactly know how long it took but I eventually gave her a hug.

The noise was deafening! I had to find my way to the front of the shul to hear the reading of the Torah, and even then, it was still hard to hear every word. The Mussaf service was no better.

As we are approaching vacation time, this is a letter by the Rebbe to the children of the graduating class and their parents. It was sent to various Jewish educational institutions throughout the United States.

Adaptive leadership is called for when the world is changing, circumstances are no longer what they were, and what once worked works no more.

When used properly, clothing mitigates the shame of our physical bodies and helps us express our higher, dignified selves in the world. When misused, clothing can hide our spiritual core, portraying ourselves as completely physical beings.

Let’s just say that I soon began covering the shortfall myself, and my group leader promptly stopped sending me the spreadsheets. And I countered by unearthing them anyway and continuing to fill the quota, most often without signing in.

Some demographers, including Pew and other federations, have created a new line of questioning designed to analyze Chabad involvement. Instead of asking them what type of Jew they think they are, the surveys encourage participants to express their Jewish identity in more depth.

Why does the Torah spend so much time describing an event that could have been stated far more briefly by naming the princes and then simply telling us generically that each brought a silver dish, a silver basin and so on?

Some may refer to the Torah as a history book; others may think of it as a book of law or a source of Jewish wisdom. While these are all true, they only scratch the surface of the Torah’s true nature.

In this day and age, when there is so much intermarriage and assimilation, even in Israel, should we not be thankful that this young man married a Jewish girl. Their children will be Jewish, even if their chuppah wasn’t so much. There’s still hope for their future generations.

The question of why there were no questions about Chabad involvement in the UJA-Federation survey is even more perplexing when you consider Chabad’s growth.

The wilderness was not just a place; it was a state of being, a moment of solidarity, midway between enslavement in Egypt and the social inequalities that would later emerge in Israel.

We must ask ourselves: Is this the best way to handle an ordeal? When we face challenges, how do we act during these moments of pain and discomfort?

Shaindy tried to think logically. There must be some way to signal for help. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed her husband. No reception and no service. She tried dialing 911. That should work. No service again. No way to call anyone in this underground station.

The Three Days of Preparation and the Festival of the Giving of our Torah indeed come once a year, but there is a small-scale version of this preparation and of Matan Torah every day.