In preparation for the High Holidays, we blow the Shofar each morning throughout the final month of the Jewish year. Every morning, the Shofar reminds us of the holiness of Rosh Hashanah, marking the start of the New Year that lies ahead.
But why do Jews all around the world blow the shofar? What is so […]
The story of the Jewish people, especially after the second Temple, is about one of the great love affairs of all time, the love of a people for specific books, the books being the 5 Books of Moses. Much of the rabbinic literature, especially the tractate, Ethics of the Fathers, reads like an extended poem in […]
There is a book by P.J. Long, a mom who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she fell off a horse. In her book, Gifts from a Broken Jar, she recounts this story from India about a village boy who brought water to a wealthy man.
Every day, the boy walked several miles from the village to […]
This week’s Parashah reveals Hashem’s indescribable love for His people.
The prophet Hoshea opens with warm words of blessing and says, “The Jewish people will be likened to the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted.” Hoshea digresses then and says, “And in place of not being recognized as My nation, they will be regarded […]
One of the arguments separating different contemporary communities of Jews is the contention about who (or Who) wrote the Torah. Is the Torah the direct transcript of the words of God to Moses at Sinai, so that each and every word recorded in that book is the speech of God literally? Or is the Torah […]
Esau is surely one of the most tragic figures of the Bible.
He is a simple man, whose robust nature leads him to rejoice in his own health, strength and energy. Esau loves to hunt. He celebrates the outdoors! Esau is a man of impulse. Like Rambo or John Wayne, Esau thrives on his tremendous power, his physical […]
In Parashat Re‘eh:
We learn that we have an obligation to care for others.
It is haShem’s Commandment to us!
With this obligation to God, Moses continues his second speech to the Israelites preparing them for entering the Promised Land. He speaks about values and behaviors, which lead to blessings; OR, to curses. So beware!!! Would you like […]
With the beginning of the New Year, many of us have already started writing down and thinking about what, if any, resolutions we might want to make. Knowing that some of our resolutions have appeared on previous years’ lists, we know all too well how easily we can forget our best intentions when other things […]
Parasha Toldot is a story of unwise parental love and the tragedy. At the beginning of the story, Isaac and Rebekah spend many lonely years praying for a child, and then comes the twins – Esau and Jacob. Rebecca found that pregnancy was much harder than she had anticipated. She was in a great deal […]
There is a familiar story of a man searching the sidewalk for his keys and looking frantically under the streetlight. When questioned by a passerby who found out that the man was searching for his keys, the man admits that he lost the keys inside his house. However, since the light was so much brighter […]
