by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Aug 31, 2012 | Ki Tetze
A Jewish man goes to war and there at war he encounters amongst the enemy a beautiful woman. The Torah says that he can take her home but he must cut off her hair and “do” her nails. It’s interesting that the two ectodermic appendages, hair and nails...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Aug 17, 2012 | Re'eh, Elul
Here we are getting ready to usher in the last month of the year. There is a vast amount of discussion and literature on how to start off the year and very little about how to end it. Even the last month of the year Elul, has been marketed as the preparation for the...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Jul 26, 2012 | Devarim, Tisha B'Av
The Kotzker Rebbe observed: “There is no place lonelier than a room full of people.” Walk into a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah. Everyone is eating, dancing and singing. Who would think that loneliness is even possible in this room? But if you are a stranger in that room,...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Jul 19, 2012 | Matot, Massei
Yaakov’s son Reuven saw that his mother Leah was barren. It was harvest time and Reuven was walking through the fields. He stumbled upon some dudaim, a medical herb that he thought would improve the Shalom Bayis situation at home. He picked them and gave them to...
by Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Mar 16, 2012 | Chukat
What do you do if you are going crazy looking for something you misplaced and you just can’t find it anywhere? Say the following: ‘Rabbi Binyamin said: The whole world is blind until G-d opens our eyes and we see’ (Breishis Rabba 52) Then make a...