I’m feeling okay about the nine days this year. Even Tisha B’Av! That may sound radical, so let’s explain why. The Talmud (Yoma 5) describes a scene toward the desecration and destruction of the Beis HaMikdash by the Babylonians. According to the Medrash in Eicha, a...
"We love Torah and we love G-d, but we can't live together with the rest of the Jewish people. We are willing to support you, teach you, do business with you; we'll even fight in your wars! But we need our own space." These were the words of the leaders of Gad and...
Why do we sing when we travel? While reading this week’s parsha the baal korei will burst into a delightful song. He will not be reading about the splitting of the sea or be announcing the Ten Commandments. Rather, he will be reciting the travelogue of the Jewish...
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 his...
In Breishis we are told that 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...
A thought for the week on Parshiyos Matos-Masei