Hugs!
(Torah Portion Devorim) Hugs! We are now in the nine day period of mourning the destruction of our Temples. This period is also the time to recall other calamities, and pogroms including the Holocaust that befell our nation. I would like to share a few stories told by American liberators of the concentration camps. My …
Will Power!
(Torah Portion Va’eschanan) Will Power! Someone once posed an unusual question to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein o.b.m.: “I have a friend who gave me permission to speak Lashon Harah – ill speech or gossip – about himself. Am I permitted to talk about things that are derogatory to him?” Rabbi Feinstein responded, “I don’t understand the …
Surprised Wealth!
(Torah Portion Aikev) Surprised Wealth! King Solomon writes in the book of Koheles, “Everything has its season, and there is a time for everything under the Heaven.” He then lists that there are 28 times of significant life events. One of them is, “There is a time to scatter stones; and there is a time …
Food for Thought
(Torah Portion Re’eh) Food for Thought Last week, a non Jewish employee at a health facility that I visit, stopped me and related the following: “I was out food shopping the other day with my young daughter and she asked me why Jewish people eat Kosher? I didn’t know what to answer. I wish I …
The Big Eraser!
(Torah Portion Shoftim) The Big Eraser! Once, during King David’s rule over the Land of Israel, a strange pattern developed; each day, exactly 100 Jewish people died. This disturbed King David and he realized that he was being sent a Heavenly message. Through his gift of Divine spirit and inspiration, King David perceived that the …
Double Take
(Torah Portion Ki Seitzai) Double Take Recently, while reading a tribute to the life of Rabbi Hirsh Diskin o.b.m., a cute story caught my eye and made me chuckle. Rabbi Diskin was a retired principal of a large Jewish religious girls’ school in Baltimore, and never passed up an opportunity to motivate others. Once, Rabbi …
Amen!
(Torah Portion Ki Savo) Amen! While the Jews were still in the desert just before they went into the Land of Israel, Moshe instructed them that immediately upon entering Israel they were to assemble at the mountains of Grizim and Eival in the Shechem region and take an oath to uphold the Torah. Although Moshe …
Upgrade Available!
(Torah Portion Nitzavim/Vayailech) Upgrade Available! This is the last Shabbos of the year 5773, which brings with it many opportunities. The Talmud teaches us, “The way we finish something off, has the most significant impact.” Thus, if we give special attention to the holiness and sanctity of this Shabbos, it affects our standing regarding all …
