I had a student who told me, “My father was an atheist and the most moral man I ever knew. I don’t believe that had he been a believer, he would have been any a better person.” I asked him, “But do you think your father might have been more …
When my wife was giving birth to our first child, she was in excruciating pain. Sure, we had gone to Lamaze birthing classes and learned how to breath and all those kinds of things. But when we got to the labor room, I felt more like a shlamazel rather than a master of Lamaze. I …
The Jewish Sages gave a spiritual rather than physiological explanation for the disease tsara’as (generally translated as “leprosy”) which affected not only the body but also clothing and the walls of houses. According to one source several sins could possible be the cause: R. Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the …
What is the difference between having fun and being happiness? Happiness is not dependent on an event, it is an inner state of being that does not happen to you but that you must achieve. Happiness is not a happening that you wait to happen, it’s a choice you have …
The first man and woman ate fruits and vegetables—not animals—in the Garden of Eden. It was only later, after the Flood during the time of Noah, that G-d allowed mankind to eat meat. We cannot understand the exact connection between the sins of mankind and the subsequent permission to eat …
But no sin offering of which any of the blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place shall be eaten; it shall be burned with fire. —— Leviticus 6:23 There are different opinions regarding the actual meaning of the animal sacrifices. Maimonides …
Passover celebrates the getting out of Egypt as an event greater than just a political emancipation of the Jewish people. It was a spiritual transformation. The Jews were not only physically enslaved but also spiritually enmeshed in Egyptian culture. Egypt was the epitome of egotism and haughtiness. But in truth …
In the Book of Isaiah, G-d exclaims, “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” This means that G-d’s perspective is totally different from our human perspective. Just as a theoretical being who lives in a two-dimensional reality cannot possibly conceive of the perspective of three-dimensional beings such as ourselves, so we …
Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord. (Exodus 35:2) During the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the desert they carried with them a portable temple referred to as …
Keep the Shabbat for it is holy unto you…..because in six days G-d made heaven and earth: and on the seventh day He abstained from work and rested. (Exodus 31: 14-17) I stop and rest on Shabbat because if I don’t stop, then I mistakenly think that my life is my business, …