Guilt, Shame, And The Scapegoat
Expiation demands a ritual. Yet Maimonides does not explain why Yom Kippur demanded a rite not used on other days when sin or guilt offerings were brought.
Our Role In This World
What about the akeida was so unique, when throughout the generations thousands of Jews have given their lives for Kiddush Hashem?
And Before Creation, Nothing
Both of these words are commonly translated as “nothingness,” but understanding the nuances expressed by these ostensible synonyms will help us better understand what exactly the Torah means to teach us about the state of the world before Creation.
The Miracle Of The Sticks
The Midrash tells us that thousands of children in the desert were named Aharon because Aharon brought peace to their homes.
Oneg And Nega: The Story Of Eden, Nahar, And Gan (Part I)
The goal is for the essence of Eden to flow untainted through the Nahar into the Gan – for the spiritual to be powerfully and completely expressed through the physical.
How To Change The World
We can make a difference, and it is potentially immense. That should be our mindset, always.
The Miracle Of Chanukah – Burning Yet Not Consumed
Did the quantity of the oil grow eight-fold or did its quality strengthen so that each drop was able to fuel the flame for a longer time?
Renewable Energy
What Shabbat gave – and still gives – is the unique opportunity to create space within our lives, and within society as a whole, in which we are truly free.
Home Sweet Home
And while I’m already in full-blown kvetchy mode, now may be as good a time as any to mention the mess!
The Breakfast Of Champions (Conclusion)
Overtime proved to be as tense and white-knuckled as the fourth quarter. Halfway through, New London grabbed a defensive rebound and charging toward their basket when Monona’s forward poked away the ball and broke away. In a slick maneuver he managed to split the defense and went up virtually slamming it to give Monona Grove the lead.
Giving Credit
Tzippy wandered around the Jerusalem mall, where she had planned to meet her daughter. She was not really in the mood for this excursion, but her daughter had insisted on it.
The Quest To Find The Schindler Of Kristallnacht
My initial search for heroes of Kristallnacht came up empty. Surely there must have been upright Germans who shielded their Jewish friends and neighbors from the angry mobs seeking them out. Sadly, my detailed research yielded only a pitiful, nameless few.
Everything Given Us Is For The Best
Everything given us is for the best. Yet some of us forget this when we should know better.
I recently moved to another state and needed to see an ophthalmologist. My brother and sister-in-law have been living in that state for 10 years, and my brother's wife said she would make an appointment for me.
Purim and the Challenge of the Holocaust
Jews have been an ever-dying people that never died, experiencing a continuous resurrection, like the dry bones Yechezkel saw in the valley. Purim, like the Jewish nation, will never cease.
Longing To Be A Saint
According to Maimonides there is not one model of the virtuous life, but two. He calls them, respectively, the way of the saint (chassid) and the sage (chacham).
Violence And The Sacred
Had G-d not told the first humans: ‘Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves in the ground’? That is why Abel brought an animal sacrifice.
The Journey To Yourself
In order to accomplish anything great, we must first identify a clear target and then determine the path required to get there.
How To Know If You Have Attained True Teshuvah
The litmus test is quite simple: What is our reaction when we hear someone insult or belittle us?
The Young Man Who Missed A Fast Day
Ben Zion caught his breath and apologized to Rav Ahron for barging in on him at the airport.
The Phone Call
If Hashem wants a person to have something, he will have it, and no one in the world can take away what is coming to to him.
The Universality Of Sukkot
Sukkot is the most universalistic of all festivals. At the same time, however, it is the most particularist of festivals. When we sit in the sukkah, we recall Jewish history
How Teshuvah Works
Says Rav Elchanan, we see that even without the middas harachamim when one regrets his previous actions, even his mitzvos, he will not be held accountable for them.
What Compels Us to Speak Lashon Hara?
Once we understand the purpose of speech, we can begin to comprehend just how abhorrent lashon hara truly is. Lashon hara takes the very tool of connection – speech – and uses it to disconnect people from each other.
The Discerning Listener Catches The Story
If you are not attuned to the right frequency, then all of the signals in the world will pass you by.
Praying For Another
Miraculously, the baby came out without a scratch, though some glass shards had to be brushed off his hat.
A Clean Conscience
As he was trying to work out the mystery of who had cleaned the shul, he mentioned it to one of the cooks in the school’s kitchens. And she admitted to having cleaned the shul herself.
Torah As Song
The decisive points of the narrative alone are emphasized, what lies between is non-existent; time and place are undefined and call for interpretation...
Ideals Lost And Found
A gift isn’t real; something chosen and earned is. We’re in this world to choose, to assert our free will, and to create ourselves.
Love For Mitzvos
Now we ask ourselves, what is the purpose of being part of a korban pesach group if one does not get to eat the korban?
The Deeper Purpose Of Torah Wisdom
Every single thing that we see and experience in the physical world stems from the spiritual root – the transcendent dimension of Torah.
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