Why the Land of Israel is part of Grace after Meals
Why it is necessary to mention Eretz Yisrael when we thank God, Who provides our daily food. Is eating connected to appreciating the Land?
Why it is necessary to mention Eretz Yisrael when we thank God, Who provides our daily food. Is eating connected to appreciating the Land?


This week's parasha holds the key to understanding practically all of Jewish History in the past 120 years.

A demand addressed to MK Kalfon from a French immigrant.

There is another, and much more profound, meaning to the words 'realize your worst fears' than the obvious one.
Why was it worth God’s while to produce the effects which the sorcerers could duplicate?.

The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.

Can the temporary silence the historic?

Rabbi Waldman’s awaiting the Prophets' vision to be fulfilled was tangible, it led him to initiate settlement in Judea and Samaria.

The Mishna was written toi preserve the Oral Law when there was danger it would be forgotten. Learning it is carrying on the torch of Torah.

As the Jewish nation emerged from a family, and families are the bedrock of society, it is clearly the women who are of supreme importance.

Angels appear in the Bible. What are they?

What is the antidote to polarization? Pharaoh and Joseph are a case in point.

The Name told to Moses to describe Hashem is cryptic, implies the unknown, the Unknowable and the Eternal, God's Name of the future.

Can the temporary silence the historic?

In every generation, the holy Shechinah (Divine Presence) seeks out individuals who are like Moshe Rabbeinu,,

The unaccountable occurrences in our lives do have explanations.

So why does Hashem make this special supernatural occurrence with the burning bush? Obviously there's more to this story..

Did Moses' covering his face reflect awe or unwarranted timidity?

The Book of Exodus is a guidebook. What does it teach about bringing redemption - from everything that needs change?

It's a sad fact. The more the Jews suffer the more they will multiply.

Can there possibly be anyone who says that a woman is not fit to perform circumcision if the Torah describes Zipporah doing so?

This parasha has the first recorded instance in history of civil disobedience.

Grief is likened to a sword over one's neck at first, says the Rambam, then it moves to another part of the room but it is still there.

It took the lack of change after Pharaoh's death to dash Jewish hopes and cause them to ask for freedom.

Why 'bribe' us with material things? Because the physical qualities of the Land facilitate observance of Torah in the most perfect manner.

Lighting up the nations. An interview with Rivkah Lambert Adler, Ph.D..

The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.

The Exiles have returned and the Land bears abundant fruits, two prophetic signs of Redemption, but Torah and economic wealth are as well.

Pharaoh's words are mirrored by every paranoid Jew hating ruler ever since - and there have been, and still are, many.

Her last text was a reminder to say Shema at bedtime. It almost seems as though G-d wanted her near Him.

The belief in the oneness of God has moral significances that need to be applied in practical life.

Hashem’s presence is in our midst even in the darkness and sometimes most especially in times of tragedy and hardship. Do we stop to listen?

It is easy to see history repeating itself, down to the enthusiastic Egyptization of the tribes during Joseph's lifetime. But later on,..

There is a medieval legend about the first part of the beautiful Sabbath prayer.

What does it mean when Jacob says the angel who saved him should bless his grandchildren?

The Sovereignty Movement eulogizes an iconic leader, and Rochel Sylvetsky writes of a debt of thanks to an idealistic madrich. In memoriam.

All the brothers in the book of Breishit vied with one another. What about Aaron and Moshe?

halakhot related to snow and the application of salt – or ice melt – on Shabbat.

An illuminating talk on choosing one's way of life with Rabbi Baruch Efrati, head of the Derech Emunah organization of young Israeli rabbis.

The blessing over sons in this week's Torah portion is dedicated to Yehuda Dimentman, Hy"d, who will not bless his baby tonight.

From the verses in this week's Torah portion, it would seem that Yosef is considered one of the forefathers. So why is he not on the list?

The murder of human beings is a greater tragedy than the destruction of the Holy Temples.

You might think it is the greatest blessing if your children are blessed, but there is a step beyond that.

Does the location of a person's death impact that person?

'The reason the Rambam does not list living in Israel as a mitzvah is not that he thinks it less than a mitzvah, but just the opposite.'

Truth and peace are both values, but which do we choose when they conflict? Not everyone among the rabbinic Sages agreed.

The blessing for the Tribe of Dan, the unifying tribe, has all the prerequisites for the Redemption.

Jacob's dream came true, Joseph's dreams changed history, so did Herzl's, and to a certain extent, Martin Luther King's. Why not mine?

Same hat. Same clothes. Same curriculum. Same Jew. Same, same, same! Let's give today's young people the chance to use their strengths.

Our father Jacob looks forward to the future, knowing the present, as earthshaking as it may seem, is only a blip on history's radar screen.

Who should our children learn about first, Moses or Shakespeare, the bible or art, Talmud or science?

The distinguishng quality of Rabbi Gideon Perl ztz”l who passed away last week, is that he was a close disciple of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook

Our relationship with G-d: What to make of an innocent teenager killed by a drunk driver.

The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.

The 10th of Tevet as Yom Hakaddish Haklali leads to curiosity about the rabbi's Holocaust experience.

One of the four fasts mourning the Temple's destruction, today marks the day the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem began.

Nazis targeted Jewish leaders, especially rabbis, as their first victims when moving into Jewish areas, because rabbis meant continuity.

Some Hebrew words never come in the singular. One of them is "Chayyim" - life.

The age of social media has made privacy obsolete - unless we think about how to combine it with suitable disclosure. A lesson from Joseph.

Yaakov Avinu, whose name ‘Israel’ we so proudly bear, truly lived the injunction of the prophet: (Micah 6:8):’Walk humbly with Hashem...’.
