Dr. Elliot Resnick

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Hold its feet

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

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Six and one

The menorah teaches us how to live our lives.

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

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

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Speak up!

Tell your children what you believe and why.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Moshe wasn’t G-d

The Torah wanted to make sure we didn’t get carried away.

Rabbi Samson Raphael 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 Raphael Hirsch on the parsha: Should we pave our own path?

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

Rabbi Samson Raphael 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: 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.

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 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.