by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | May 2, 2014 | Sefer Vayikra, Emor
I once read an astounding study that affects us all. A certain philanthropist in Long Island is funding an academic study on the “fallout” from Judaism. Why are so many children falling through the cracks of the Jewish community? We all have our own ideas and theories...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Apr 11, 2014 | Sefer Vayikra, Acharei Mot
‘What good is a lamp in the sunshine!’ Our characters have been marked with Poland, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Amsterdam, Morocco and Turkey. All of our ancestors have traveled through the desert. Our character has been altered – how could it not be?...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Mar 3, 2014 | Tetzaveh, Purim
Why would the entire Jewish community have to die for attending a banquet? The students of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai once asked their master: Why did G-d decree death to the Jewish community of Persia? What did they do to deserve this? Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai instructed...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Feb 28, 2014 | Parashat Shekalim, Daled Parshiot, Ki Tisa, Vayakhel, Pekudei
God instructs Moshe that when he takes the census of the Israelites, they must be numbered indirectly: every man will give half a shekel, and the money thus collected will be counted. This is so that no plague will break out among them (Exod. 30: 11-13). Rashi...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Feb 14, 2014 | Sefer Shemot, Ki Tisa, Purim
Today is Purim Kattan. It’s not the real Purim, because Purim must fall on the last month of the year, yet it still a day of celebration and happiness. From a seasonal and holiday perspective, Nissan, the month of Pesach, is the first of all months, and Adar is the...
