One day as I was waiting for a friend, an old woman sits down next to me. Suddenly she jumps out of her seat, turns to me and yells, “I should have never left Mexico!” I look at her and ask, “When did you leave Mexico?” “Thirty years ago!” she …
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 …
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 a …
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 seductive snake around …
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 …
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 …
The Kabbalah teaches, “There is no king without a nation.” This point requires deep exploration especially on Rosh Hashanna when we acknowledge G-d as our King. It may make sense that, in the human world, a king is dependent on having subjects who acknowledge his sovereignty. The last Emperor of …
“And you shall be happy in all that the Lord your G-d has given you” (Deut. 26:11) Many people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. — Hellen Keller Money can’t buy you happiness, but …
“Teshuva (repentance), tefilah (prayer), and tzedakah (charity) annul (even the most) severe decree.”—-From the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayers The Talmud teaches: “Tzedaka saves from death.” When we need an incredible influx of life force — because we are facing impending physical death or impending spiritual death, the act …