Tzav: Fighting evil
How do we continue to trust in G-d when He allows us to be rocketed by so much evil and darkness?
How do we continue to trust in G-d when He allows us to be rocketed by so much evil and darkness?
Because Mordechai gathered all the Jews, the Jewish people were saved. Unity is the key to redemption.
Whatever skill we might have, we must ask ourselves, how we can use it for G-d?
Our sages taught that when we repent properly, even deliberate sins are turned into merits.
The Superbowl heroes you watched the other day did it. If they could do it, you are no different; you can do it too. So, what are you waiting for?
Make a mikdash in your home; make this a religious war. This is the path to victory.
When I study the Torah and come to “know” G-d’s thinking as well as Adam knew Eve, G-d is present in my mind.
There is only one source of light. There is no pluralism in the Torah. Our multiple opinions and traditions must align with the single source of the Torah’s light.
Tthe Hebrew word for Redemption, geulah, and the Hebrew word for exile, golah, are practically the same. The only difference is that geulah is spelled with an alef...
A name that we may not write or utter is a name that is beyond human conjecture. To receive a blessing from this name is to receive truly unlimited blessing.
We found meaning; that is how we survived.
a father’s greatest blessing is the one he receives for his children.
On the surface, we are just like our neighbors in the Diaspora. But we are not really the same. We don't belong and they ensure we know it.
A time of war can feel like darkness. But we are not in a place of darkness. We are in a place of strength.
We were once proud to say, “My best friend is Muslim,” but it turned out that some of them were not really our friends...
Our sages taught that righteous people can transform G-d’s severe judgment into Divine acts of compassion.
When G-d begs forgiveness.
The Torah profits from our joy. As we complete the Torah, the Torah is complete. What can we do to be more complete ourselves?
Yom Kippur.- It is an immersion that gets your head in the game. And it entails an acknowledgment that our heads were not in the game.
On this hakhel Shabbat, let’s gather with others in genuine unity and friendship.
What does it mean, did I not really want what I thought I wanted?
With what perspective can judges administer punishment for sins?
G-d calls us His children and His chosen in the same breath. How does that work?
What did Moses say that caused our ancestors to change their minds?
Admitting that we were wrong and that everything we said about another person sprung from our narcissism or insecurity is embarrassing.
On the surface, the Torah appears to play a game of chance in one of the most important decisions our people ever made, dividing the land.
I challenge you to sit down and list all your strengths and flaws.
The point is for our thoughts about G-d to take over our minds and lead us in directions we did not anticipate.
When kohanim offer their blessing, they must clear their minds and focus solely on being a channel through whom the blessing flows.
But - we sink or swim together, just as a kosher Torah needs all its letters to be kosher.
Moses counted the Israelites using the half shekel each had donated. Are the Jews just money?
How will this mitzva survive if we eradicae poverty?
Did you know that during the era of the second Temple, all Jews were given a glimpse of the Holy of Holies?.
The simpleton speaks the truth, but it is a sad truth.
The Israelites relied on God, making this a great Shabbat for future generations to remember.
Life is not about me; life is about a much larger picture. If it were just me—what would it amount to? It is about G-d
The entitlement generation claims whatever they want as their entitlement. You have money and I don’t, so I am entitled to your money.
Many think of birth as the beginning of our story, but it is not. It is only the beginning of a new chapter—our chapter on earth.
If a cherub is okay, why not a golden calf? What is the difference?
Why did G-d make a messy world only to dedicate an entire Torah portion to tell us how to clean up the mess?
No ego and no pretentiousness. Ego is an acronym for edging G-d out.
We are beholden only to G-d. Nothing else. No one can take our freedom from us. Only we can take it from ourselves.- and how to avoid that.
We have the ten utterances of creation, the ten plagues, and the ten commandments. Is there a connection?
As viceroy, Joseph could have visited his elderly father, ensured he has ample food. What was the point of telling him to come to Egypt?
Today’s youth have an unquenchable sense of their own value even before accomplishing anything of significance. When did the change occur?
Sometimes it feels as if Murphy’s Law is G-d’s Law. But that's not so.
The struggle of mankind.
In times of despair, when the journey seems endless, Abraham and Sarah showed that we can hold our heads high- and put a mezuza on our door!
Since last year was a shemitah year, this year is a Hakhel year. Why is Sukkot is a propitious time for it?
Iti's odd to say that separating nations and fixing boundaries to keep them apart is a formula for unity. But unity is precisely that..
The only way to repent for things we did wrong is to know them first and for this we must make an honest accounting. But don't stop there.
When you follow something proven, you have no choice, no freedom; the arguments compel you. When you believe, it is your choice.
Most people would say unity without differences is preferable, but Judaism underlines unity with differences.
We are each expected to exercise judgement and restraint at our six gate points, the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. G-d is with us to help.
Every Jew has a safe space to which they can retreat. A Rosh Chodesh essay for the month of mercy and forgiveness.
There is plenty of room for individual expression in Judaism. Perhaps not in the days of our calendar, but in the choices of life.
Today we have Myoffice, Mydrive, my-everything, so why not MyShabbat?
Are there elements of fasting on Shabbat the 9th of Av even though it is forbidden to fast on Shabbat?
G-d’s gifts don’t expire. The land did not cease being ours when those nations drove us from the land.
Jewish tradition does not often create aphorisms in vain. Here is the story of the first shlemiel.