Rabbi Kenneth Brander

Haftarah Parashat Vayishlach:

Brothers reunite

By acknowledging our shared history, we can and must begin to build bridges instead of walls.

Lech Lecha:

Does God care? Finding purpose in difficult times

God participates in our personal and national development, taking pride in our advances forward and supporting us when the journey seems arduous.

Etrog & Arava:

Why we need to embrace all Four Species

A unifying story about Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook and his student Rav Yoel Bin Nun.

From memory to action: Reflecting on October 7 and Yom Kippur

How will we remember this chapter of our Jewish story? What narrative will we pass on to our children and grandchildren about that fateful day in October?

Nitzavim-Vayelech

“Not in the Heavens”

Torah is accessible to all.

Parashat Matot-Mas’ei:

The long and winding road

The Torah is our guide through our journeys in the world, and its 42-line pages remind us that just as God led us to 42 stops as we went forward in the desert, God leads us along all our journeys.

Burying Moshe’s trumpets & crafting our own

Why the trumpets, which represent our ingathering, our points of reflection in times of joy and challenge, can’t be reused.

Shavuot: Torah vs. Cheesecake

The everyday, the mundane - these are not the opposite of holiness, but simply the open space that invites holiness in at every moment.

"Cleared for Publication" - The power of a name

Just as discovery of the Divine Name in the Vaera is itself a form of revelation, the release of the names of the fallen opens up to us the inner worlds of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live.

Parshat Vayigash: Letting the tears flow

There is only so long we can put on brave faces without making space for the latent grief and fear within us. Yosef's tears teach us that.

The blessing for eating Chametz on Pesach

I always wondered what God was doing during the Seder at Bergen-Belsen when the Chief Rabbi of Rotterdam instructed Jews to eat chametz.

Pesach in S’dom? Responding to Abuse

The first Passover experience doesn’t happen in Egypt, but happens actually in S’dom. There are, however, similarities.

Helping Agunot and spreading the light of Purim

Rabbi Kenneth Brander, President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone, comes to the Arutz Sheva studio to discuss two important initiatives

Why is Rachel the most beloved Matriarch?”

Why is it that Rachel has attained such a unique place in the Jewish People’s collective consciousness?

Horrific alleged gang-rape calls for a moral accounting

The pain of the victim of this senseless act of violence is a pain which every one of us must feel. Opinion.

Learning from our mistakes; defeating a pandemic

The Rambam's lesson from our parasha is that learning from our retreats is an integral part of humanity’s zig-zagging journey forward.

Each generation connects with God differently

The symbolism in the trumpets of Parashat Beha'alotcha (Diaspora).

“Renewing our Vows” with God

As we journey through this age of corona, we must remind ourselves of an opportunity even during tragedy to renew our relationship with God.

Planting seeds: Changing ourselves and the world

There is a fascinating law that shares with us a difference in mindsets, a difference between Shabbat and the sabbatical year.

Finding light amidst the darkness

The most well known epidemic in Jewish history is the one that killed 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students. Almost impossible to imagine.

Orthodox rabbi blasts gay conversion therapy

'Peddling false promises.' Dean of Ohr Torah Stone and former Yeshiva University VP Rabbi Kenneth Brander blasts conversion therapy.

Ohr Torah Stone inaugurates Rabbi Kenneth Brander

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin passes leadership of Ohr Torah Stone movement he founded to Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander

Post-Holocaust suitcase comes to Israel

Rabbi Kenneth Brander describes making Aliyah with suitcase his parents took from DP camp after the Holocaust.

Ohr Torah Stone appoints new leader

Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Dr. Brander to head organization.