The New Month is Coming
In many synagogues around the world, the monthly calendar contains a special notation marking the last Shabbat of the Hebrew month as Shabbat Mevarchim (The Shabbat When They Bless). It…
Fearing God
“The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge...” (Proverbs 1:7)The idea of “fearing God” carries with it overtones of fire and brimstone, a puritanical flavor that seems foreign to our…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is a story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus' attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 166 B.C.E. When Antiochus demanded that Hannah's…
Rabbi Ashi
Every generation needs a leader. The Talmud notes that “a righteous man does not depart from the world until [another] righteous man like himself is created, as it is said (Ecclesiastes…
What Goes Around Comes Around
Is there any truth to the popular statement, “What goes around, comes around”? It is a pithy phrase that is all too often suggested (somewhat viciously) after a person falls on hard…
The Second Commandment
You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor any manner of likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, that is in the earth beneath, or…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is a story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus' attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 166 B.C.E.When Antiochus demanded that Hannah's…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is the story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus' attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 166 B.C.E. When Antiochus demanded that Hannah's…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is the story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus' attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 166 B.C.E. When Antiochus demanded that Hannah's…
Hand on the Bible
The classic courtroom image portrays a witness standing in the dock, right hand raised and left hand resting gently on the Bible. The witness is then asked: "Do you solemnly swear to tell…