Dr. Elliot Resnick

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 Raphael Hirsch on Rosh Hashanah: Facts, not feelings

The High Holy Days aren’t about cheap sentimentality.

Rabbi Samson Raphael 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 Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parsha: On Empires and Expansionism

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

Rabbi Shimshon Refael 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 on 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 Korach (Diaspora): 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 Rafael Hirsch on Behar: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 Shimshon Refael HIrsch on the parasha: When grieving is forbidden

If we’re alive, it means G-d wants us to be alive, and we must “serve Him with all our might."

Rabbi Shimshon.R.Hirsch: Why Is childbirth associated with impurity?

What is the significance of this connection?

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 Shimshon Refael 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.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael HIrsch on the Parsha: Refuting a Reform Rabbi

Rabbi Hirsch shows that Torah commandments are in force despite the destruction of the ancient Jewish commonwealth.

Rav S.R. 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.

Rav Shimshon R. Hirsch on the parsha: Would you have trusted G-d?

There was absolutely no precedent, there was only faith.

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

Modern Paganism : Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha

Sanctifying our desires is pagan, not Jewish. Pleading victimhood to external forces is likewise pagan, not Jewish.

Not fit for the job? Great! Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha

G-d told Moshe: “This” – your inadequacy and self-doubt – will be a sign to the Jews that I have sent you.

Do we need more zealotry? Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parsha

Most of us understand Jacob's words to mean that Shimon and Levi’s zealotry must be diffused. Rabbi Hirsch differs.

Thank G-d for the Ghettos - Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parsha

Living in Goshen was a wise decision on the part of the Jews and a message for future exiles.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parasha: Does Esau still hate Jacob?

When Esav meets Yaakov, a part of him acknowledges the superiority of Yaakov’s path in life. But does he continue to hate his brother?

No, YU shouldn’t 'love' proud LGBT students

YU is beyond the pale in accepting the public flaunting of LGBT behavior, unequivocally prohibited by the Torah. Op-ed.

Why are we focusing on self-esteem?

In all of Jewish literature, one would be hard-pressed to find a single statement glorifying self-esteem. Humility, however, is much lauded.