Dr. Elliot Resnick

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Tzaraas isn’t leprosy

The laws of tzaraas are incomprehensible if we adopt the general translation.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: ‘Progress’ in Judaism

The Prophetic Books are not more “ethical” than the Pentateuch.

Should we have canceled Candace Owens?

Every statement she’s made regarding Israel can be explained without assuming anti-Semitism on her part. Opinion.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Do you care?

Animosity is often better than indifference.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Enmeshed in darkness

Why couldn’t the Jews erect the Mishkan at night?

Rav Samson R. Hirsch on the parsha: Want to be free?

The Torah enables us to rise above the natural order.

Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch on the parsha: Hold its feet

The Jewish lamb is happy, joyful, and virile – not meek.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: 6 and 1

The menorah teaches us how to live our lives.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Did rabbis make it up?

An unusual law in Parshas Mishpatim makes the case for the divine authorship of the Torah.

Rabbi Hirsch: Cardiac Jews, Orthopraxic Jews

Neither the heart nor the deed is sufficient. G-d wants both.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Year zero

We’re not supposed to start from scratch every generation.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Speak up!

Tell your children what you believe and why.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Religion isn’t a game

​​​​​​​Pharaoh didn’t take Moshe seriously because he didn’t take his own religion seriously.

Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch on the parsha: The secret world of fish

​​​​​​​Outsiders don’t see what happens beneath the surface.

Rabbi S.R. Hirsch on the parsha: Should we pave our own path?

Individuality is valuable but only if the Torah lies at its core.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha:Is your wife on the same page as you?

Asnas came from a very different background than Yosef, but she embraced his vision.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Keep burning

Hashem wants every aspect of our life to be fuel for His fire.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: A recipe for peace of mind

A guilty conscience plagued Yaakov before meeting Esav.

Stop worrying about Gazan civilians

One cannot find any moral hand-wringing among the classic Bible commentators when fighting the enemy..

Rav Hirsch on the parsha: Don’t let the angels laugh at you

The solution is on earth, not in heaven.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Improper parenting

Yistchak and Rivkah raised Esav without regard to his nature.

Rav Samson R. Hirsch on the parsha: Are adolescents innocent?

They can be – if they follow Sarah and Rivkah’s example.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Merciless Rapists

Sodom’s population had no redeeming element.

Rabbi Hirsch on the parsha: Avraham, the first “Protestant”

​​​​​​​We’re supposed to change the world, not Torah.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on mankind: Are we born good?

A famous verse ןמ Genesis 8 seems to suggest otherwise.

How to win a war

Few questioned the morality of burning Japan’s cities. They had no sympathy for Japan, which appallingly abused captured US civilians.Op-ed.

​​​Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: A time for action

G-d expects pious Jews to do more than pray.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Torah, not therapy

​​​​​​​The answer to our problems – and the source of our joy – is Divine meaning.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Sukkot: Smile

G-d wants us to be happy.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parshah: Cowering in fear

Avodah Zarah prevents man from being fully human.

Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch on Rosh Hashanah: Facts, not feelings

The High Holy Days aren’t about cheap sentimentality.

Rabbi Samson R. Hirsch on the parsha: Breathing isn’t enough

Life is more than the absence of death.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Are we clannish?

Our very first task upon entering the Promised Land involved outreach to non-Jews.

Rabbi Samson Refael Hirsch on the parsha: Why Is she stoned?

Marriage is much more than a physical union.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha: We need a king!

A Jewish king’s purpose starts where that of a non-Jewish king often ends.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parasha: It's in our hands

Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval teach us that our environment isn’t determinative.

Rabbi Shinshon Rafael Hirsch: Should we make the Torah easier?

Our ancestors found G-d’s law difficult to obey, but G-d never lowered His standards.

Rav Shimshon R. Hirsch on the parasha: Why study Torah?

Torah knowledge without practical application “has no value.”

Rav Shimshon R. Hirsch on the parsha: Empires and Expansionism

We aren’t the only people to whom G-d assigned a land.

Rav Shimshon R.Hirsch on the Parsha: The human face of Paganism

Tolerance is lauded in the modern West, but it isn’t always a virtue in Judaism.

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch: Pinchas:G-d wants us to be happy

​​​​​​​The Torah calls for joy and serenity – in this world.  A “suffering servant” is not the Jewish ideal.

Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch on the parsha: Surrounded by snakes

​​​​​​​Do we appreciate how often G-d saves us without us even knowing it?

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch on the parsha: Getting Right to It

The almond tree' symbolizes the spirit of the tribe of Levi. How?

Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch on the Parsha: Moshe's secret message

There is a surprising reason that Moshe changed the name of one of the spies and not the others.

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael HIrsch on the parasha: Moshe and Elitism

Today, we see the people who claim to represent democracy looking down with contempt at the masses. That's an anti-Torah way to act.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parsha: Floating dust

Parashat Naso contains the laws of the Sotah - a woman suspected of adultery,

Rabbi Shimshon Refael HIrsch on the parasha: Do we matter?

That depends....

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch:Should we have a welfare state?

Helping people is wonderful, indeed obligatory., but there are principles involved.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha: Don't be an angel

Man is called on to sanctify the material world, not shun it, writes Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch.  So why do we fast?

Rabbi.Hirsch on the parsha: Why connect childbirth and impurity?

What is the significance of this connection?

Rabbi S.R. Hirsch on the parasha: No Moral Indulgences

Nadav and Avihu: The elites often permit themselves moral laxity but the Torah grants no such indulgences.

Rabbi S. R. Hirsch on the parsha: Why are the details important?

Rabbi Hirsch's commentary on the Book of Vayikra is where he explains the meaning of laws that might seem meaningless.

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch on the Parsha: What about Non-Jews?

Our G-d is not a particularistic G-d.  He is the father of all of humanity. How does the parasha show that?

Rabbi Hirsch on the parasha: Are we doomed without Korbanot?

How can we be forgiven without the essence of Temple worship, the offerings brought to God?

Rabbi S. R. Hirsch on the parsha: We don't need an intermediary

What is the point of the tablets being readable on both their sides?

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch on the parasha: Hearing voices

What really happened at Mount Sinai? After all, say skeptics, God doesn't speak to us.

Rav Hirsch on MIshpatim: When the Gemara doesn’t make sense…

How the Sages can derive laws from minutae in the Torah that others don't see..

An altar of earth? Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parasha

This is one of the places in the Torah where Rabbi Hirsch's philosophy of Torah and Derekh Eretz can be understood.

Op-ed:

Who’s really to blame for Friday’s terrorist attack?

We have a choice.  We can continue to whine, or we can elect to win.  And whether we win or not is in our hands. Op-ed.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch: Rosh Chodesh - our “Restart App”

Just as an entirely new moon emerges every month, so too we can become entirely new versions of ourselves if we will it