Thoughts on Shevat
Although the Torah implies that Abraham and his descendants are removed from the fate of the stars (based on Genesis 15:5, Nedarim 32a) - meaning that their personal destinies are not…
Cleaning The Water
This year, National Geography Awareness Week (this week) has chosen the theme of “freshwater.” The Torah is laden with prohibitions against harming the environment. Soldiers may not cut…
Zodiac
Horoscopes are fun to read, especially when they tell you that you are about to get rich or find sudden fame. While telling the future through one’s horoscope is not part of Judaism, this…
What A Pretty Little
Appearances can be deceiving. Take little children, for instance. “What a pretty little girl” might be a misplaced compliment in many traditional communities where it is customary to…
Precious Creation
While there are many appropriate themes with which the Torah could have begun (Abraham, Mt. Sinai, etc.), it begins instead with a day-by-day description of the creation of the world,…
Nittel Nacht
Jews of the 21st century may comment, or even grumble, about the pervasiveness of Christmas in our society, but, let’s be honest, in this day and age, the effects of the holiday season…
Tu b’Av And The Offering Of Wood
Tu b'Av, the fifteenth of Av, was celebrated in ancient times by unmarried maidens who went out on this day to dance in the vineyards hoping to be chosen by an unmarried youth to be his…
Boom! Flash!
There’s nothing quite as spectacular on a hot, humid summer day as a thunderstorm. Thick clouds gather, heavy winds blow and a “show” is presented that stimulates all of our senses. A…
New Years x 4
We are about to celebrate the New Year on the Gregorian Calendar. But, did you know that the Jewish calendar actually has FOUR New Years! 1) The first of Nissan, the month in which…
Kedoshim 5760 – 2000
"The Revolutionary Idea of Holiness" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, Parashat K'doshim, we encounter that magical and revolutionary word which the Torah has…