The Torah (Bible) teaches us that Jacob went to the house Laban, his uncle, and dwelt there for many years. He married Rachel and Leah, Laban’s daughters, and had eleven sons there. After years of struggling with Laban constantly deceiving him he finally left to return home and face Esau …
Loving the Risk of Risking Love Rebecca said, “Now my son [Jacob] listen to me and heed my instructions. Go to the sheep and take two choice young kid-goats. I will prepare them the way your father likes. You must then bring it to your father, so that he will …
A few years ago I was counseling a couple on the brink of divorce. In a private session with the husband, he related to me that the key problem was his wife’s inability to forgive. To illustrate his point, he related to me an event, which as it turned out, …
Abraham spent his whole life teaching the message of the G-d of love and protesting against the idolaters’ cruel practice of sacrificing their children. Why would G-d ask Abraham to sacrifice his son? How would he ever face the world after committing the same crime as idolaters? Imagine the scandalous …
“All things are mortal, but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?” ~ Mark Twain When G-d said to Abraham “Go to yourself–Lech Lecha” what was He actually asking Abraham to do? This command seems to be contradicted by the remainder of …
In this weeks’ Torah portion we read: “The whole earth was of one language and of common purpose. And it came to pass, when they migrated from the east they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another…….. “Come let us build …
Your Ultimate Self-Worth Adam and Eve were living a carefree life in the Garden of Eden. They had only one restriction. G-d commanded them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. However, forbidden fruits tend to seem more tasty to people. In addition, having a …
When we take a bird’s eye view of the holidays that inaugurate the New Year, we see a collection of diverse images of God. The predominant image of God on Rosh Hashanah is as King and Judge who is writing us into a cosmic Book of Life and Death. On …
Torah teaches that the goal of life and the source of true happiness is holiness. We are holy when we are whole — integrated and harmonious with our inner self, with our nation, with the rest of humanity, with nature and with G-d. This is accomplished through fulfilling the Commandments of …
Yom Kippur is all about love and forgiveness. It’s about how we are always inseparably one with G-d. On Yom Kippur we get a glimpse of ourselves, our choices and our relationship to G-d from another perspective — G-d’s perspective. This is the transformational power that makes it into a …