Oh My Gosh…Passover Is Coming
The intensive physical and emotional preparations for Passover come from one seemingly simple commandment: "Seven days you will eat only matzah, but on the first day you shall have put…
After Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty King of Babylon, reigned for forty years. He was so commanding a figure that, according to the Midrash, his own son, Evil-Merodach, was afraid to assume his…
How Now, Red Cow
Every year, on the first or second Shabbat following Purim, a special reading from Numbers 19, is added to the regular Shabbat Torah reading. Known as Parashat Parah, the Torah reading…
What’s in the Book – The Twelve Prophets – Habakuk
The Book of Habakuk has only three chapters. Habakuk cried out to God to witness the perversions of justice. “How long, O God, shall I cry out, and You will not hear? Shall I shout to…
Take This Medical Advice?
Everyone, at some point in their lives, gets sick, even if it is with just a mild “bug.” Interestingly, the Talmud notes: “Until the time of Jacob, nobody became sick before he died.…
Purim Drinking
"A person should drink on Purim up to the point where they cannot tell the difference between ‘Blessed is Mordechai' and ‘Cursed is Haman'” (Megilla 7a). What does the Talmud mean by the…
What’s in the Book – the Twelve Prophets – Nahum
The prophet Nahum’s prophecy focuses on the fate of the great Assyrian city of Nineveh. God’s anger, as described by Nahum, was at the point of erupting. The fury of God, predicts Nahum,…
Dinah, The Daughter of Jacob
Dinah, the seventh and youngest child of Leah and Jacob, was born the same year as her half-brother Joseph. In fact, the Talmud (Brachot 60a) notes that Leah specifically prayed that the…
The Question of the Van
Philosophically, one might debate whether the mitzvah of helping unload the overburdened donkey of one’s enemy is applicable to a more modern day situation of assisting one’s enemy with a…
With All Your Heart
Have you ever wondered about the connection between love and the heart? Love is a complex emotion. The heart is the organ in the body that is responsible for blood circulation. The two…