Bows and Arrows
Lag Ba'Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. Its observance commemorates the end of a tragic plague that took the lives of nearly…
Nap Time
The world is moving at a hectic pace. People seem to always be busy--running from meeting to social engagement until they finally fall thoroughly exhausted into their beds at night.…
Everything Except
A man is attacked by a gang of anti-semites. Totally drunk, they demand that the man eat a ham sandwich or else they will kill him. What should the victim do? According to Jewish law, he…
Kindness To Animals
Animals are one of the most important “educational tools” God provided to humanity in order to teach them to be “givers.” While animals can’t communicate with the same ability as humans,…
Beyond Their Means
It goes without saying that life would be simpler if all things were black and white. Alas, however, we live in a world filled with many shades of grey. An excellent example of this is…
Get Out!
The history of the Jews in Europe can almost be read as a timeline of expulsions. At one time or another, Jews have either been expelled from, or prohibited to settle in, almost every…
The Second Passover
On the first anniversary of the exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel prepared to celebrate their first Passover as free people. God decreed that they should eat matzah and maror…
The Truth About Gefilte Fish
There is a little known secret that, hidden in what was once the Russian Pale of Settlement (basically Belarus and Eastern Poland), there is a deep, fresh water lake stocked with the…
This Land Is Our Land
“Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai said: ‘Three things are weighed equally, and they are earth, humans and rain.’ Rabbi Levi bar Hiyyata said: ‘... to teach you that without earth there would be no…
Working for a Living
It often seems as if people today, especially in Western societies, are defined, and define themselves, by their work or their profession. When people meet for the first time, one of the…