אחת התחזיות המדהימות שמופיעות בתורה בעניין העם היהודי היא זו שאומרת שמבחינה מספרית נהיה תמיד עם קטן. אין ספק שזה היה נכון בהיסטוריה הארוכה שלנו עד כה. בימי חורבן בית המקדש השני, מספר הסינים היה פי שניים ממספרנו. כמעט... READ MORE →
One of the more amazing predictions regarding the Jewish people that appears in the Torah is that numerically speaking we will always be a small nation. That certainly has been the case over our long history. At the time of the destruction of the Second Temple the Chinese were twice our numbers. Almost two millennia later the Chinese are approximately one hundred times our numbers. In... READ MORE →
The lives of Abraham and Sarah, complete with problems, setbacks and yet great achievements, stands as a stark example for Jewish life and general human life as well. Miracles intervene for them but they never quite bring final and lasting security or solutions to the problems of life. The miraculous birth of Yitzchak to Sarah is almost eclipsed by his nearly being sacrificed on the... READ MORE →
חכמי ישראל בכל הדורות, מהתלמוד והלאה, תמיד האמינו שהסיפורים על האבות, אברהם, יצחק ויעקב, ועל האמהות, שרה, רבקה, רחל ולאה, אינם רק היסטוריה אלא גם אבני דרך וסימנים לעתידו של העם היהודי. למעשה, אנחנו ספוגים ב-DNA... READ MORE →
The rabbis of the ages from the Talmud on have always maintained that the stories of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and our mothers, Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel are not only past history but are guideposts and predictions regarding the future of the Jewish people as well. Thus, in effect, we are imbued with the spiritual DNA of our ancestors and that DNA influences our attitudes and... READ MORE →
The Torah’s recitation of the events of the great flood and of Noach’s ark is well known to all of us, no matter our position on the religious spectrum of Jewish life. In reviewing human history since that time, it seems pretty accurate that we are always somehow perched on the precipice of a great cataclysmic event of horrendous consequences, whether man made, natural, or of climatic... READ MORE →
The completion of any significant portion of Torah learning is always an occasion for Jewish celebration. Any siyum (a completion of a tractate of Talmud or Mishna) is usually accompanied by a feast to help commemorate the happy event. There is a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment at having seen a difficult intellectual and time consuming task to its successful... READ MORE →
One of the many great advantages of commemorating Succot here in Israel is the ease and ability that one has to sleep in the succah. Coming from the freezing climes of Chicago and Monsey in the United States the ability to sleep in the succah was almost always negated by the inclement weather. In those years many a bowl of soup congealed as my family and I tried to eat while all... READ MORE →
שורש הסליחה סליחה היא דבר שקשה לקבל וקשה לא פחות לתת. לכן תמיד יש בעיה, תיאולוגית ומעשית, להגיע למצב של סליחה. עוולות ופגיעות אישיות צורבות את הנפש ואת הנשמה צריבה עמוקה. טינה על עוול, אמיתי או מדומה, שנעשה לנו, מבעבע... READ MORE →
Forgiveness is a trait that is hard to receive and equally difficult to dispense. It is always a problem – theological and practical – how forgiveness is to be achieved. Personal hurts and wrongs burn deeply into our psyches and souls. Resentments at wrongs – real or imagined - done to us by others, fester within us and are deeply attached to our attitudes and... READ MORE →
