What Can We Accomplish at the Seder

by | Oct 31, 2006 | Pesach/Passover

Maybe it was the Seder that shook up the Heavens and gave us the Modern State of Israel. “Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarphon were conducting a Seder in Bnei Brak. They were discussing the Exodus all that night,...

A Chassidic Seder

by | Oct 31, 2006 | Pesach/Passover

Talk given in Baltimore, MD, 3/25/2006 in Congregation Bnei Torah Shaarei Zion While visiting London a few months ago, I heard the following story from a 19 year old Jewish girl. She was vacationing in a beach house in Thailand when the Tsunami hit. Within moments she...

Rise to the Call (2006)

by | Oct 31, 2006 | Vayakhel, Pekudei

Perhaps our minds are clouded by our idea of what we should become, and G-d’s idea just gets in the way. Whatever happened to Betzalel? The Talmud tells a story. Rabbi Tarphon was ill and his very important friends, Rabbi Akiva, Rabban Gamliel and others, came...
Connecting with Jerusalem (2005)

Connecting with Jerusalem (2005)

by | Oct 31, 2006 | Vayakhel

When in the synagogue we are the nerve endings of Yerushalayim. The book of Shmos tells a forty year story of the Jewish people. In this story, we grew from humble beginnings as slaves in Egypt to a Kingdom of Priests and a holy nation. The story culminates with the...

What Is Your Purpose? (2004)

by | Oct 31, 2006 | Terumah

Perhaps our minds are clouded by our idea of what we should become, and G-d’s idea just gets in the way. Whatever happened to Betzalel? The Talmud tells a story. Rabbi Tarphon was ill and his very important friends, Rabbi Akiva, Rabban Gamliel and others, came...