This debate is not just philosophical—it is playing out today in Israeli society.
Abstinence leads to holiness but isn’t holiness itself.
Just as certain vineyards and crops needs specific geographical locations and conditions to promote their utmost growth, so too the Jewish People can only reach the ultimate in Divine Attachment in the Land of Israel, said Rabbi Yehuda Halevy.
Ruth is surely worthy of becoming King David's great-grandmother.
The true leader leads by example.
A talk with Rabbi David Samson about his new English series of commentaries on the meditative path of the Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Abulafia. "It’s as if Rav Kook bequeathed to us the map of the territory, and Rabbi Abulafia handed me the compass and walking stick."
The incredible loss & recovery of the most authoritative Tanach manuscript, the Aleppo Codex (Keter Aram Tzova).
'Blessed is the all-Merciful One, Who gave the threefold Torah: Torah, Prophets, and Writings, to the three-fold nation: Priests, Levites, and Israelites, by means of a third-born: Moses...in the third month, Sivan.
Without the Torah the world could not have fulfilled its destiny. Laws for Shavuot.
Hasidic thought explains that Shavuot is not only a time of learning but a time of heart repair.
The Jewish people sought to uncover and emphasize every individual’s personal strengths, and thus chose banners for each tribe, but no banners flew over the central Tent of Meeting.
Explaining the Torah we received on Shavuot when observed in the Holy Land as it is meant to be..
We can glean from the sacrifice of the day a poignant perspective as to how to relate to the learning of the Torah.
There are many explanations as to the significance of deserts, of wildernesses, within our tradition.
With an unpredictable, albeit pro-Israel, president in the US, this is the time to make aliya - do not postpone it!
Torah commentaries address the reason for the small number of levites when compared to every other tribe.
When we read the Torah portion this Shabbat about transforming individuals into a group and a desert into a city, let’s take the message to heart.
Although we all know that we are merely one of billions, we want to feel that our lives matter, that we mean more than just “the average Joe.” How can we do that?
The fourth Book of the Torah begins on a certain high note, but turns out to be the saddest and most disappointing in the entire Torah. On the other hand, it has high points.
In a moving and empowering Shavuot message, renowned Torah teacher Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi shares deep insights into the heart of the festival.
Rabbi David Yosef, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, offers a profound lesson on the spiritual essence and traditions of the festival.
Moshe didn't use his position to advance his children’s careers.
Torah recognized the concept of entanglement and its effects long before modern science gave it a name.
A single letter in Torah captures the story of five millennia.
This special prayer, which the Shlah told parents to recite on the day before the new month of Sivan, beautifully expresses a parent's appeal on behalf of their beloved children.
The Jewish people were particularly drawn to the Enlightenment movement, and gave it their energy and talent. Unfortunately, most Jews abandoned Israel’s unique vision, and stopped observing Torah and commandments . To bring them back to repentance, we must appreciate their aspirations and desires.
Why should a handful of young Jews living on the mountains of Biblical Israel make officials in the U.S. State Department pressure the Government of Israel to tear down these makeshift dwellings?
There is much to learn from the name Yerushalayim, which is actually a combination of two different names of the holy city.
When future historians come to write of our era, they will write of all the miracles but they will also discover another hidden miracle.
Great and formative events have occurred in Israel’s history, but there is always concern that the next generation— who did not experience the events firsthand—will forget them or lose the values and lessons derived from them. That is why Jerusalem Day was established.
Even today, not only in the past, the eternity and the glory of God are revealed in Jerusalem (Daniel 9) as a result of Israel’s victories.
Many of our brethren in the Diaspora are waiting for Mashiach to come and build the Beit HaMikdash. But the order of events is otherwise. First they have to come and then Mashiach will arrive to finish the work, may it be soon.
Why was the formal proclamation of the Jubilee year postponed until Yom Kippur?
The shmita year reminds the Jewish people that they are slaves of G-d, and therefore everything they own should be used to serve Him, whether land or people.
D’var Torah for Parshat Behar: Ramban says that Yovel, the Jubilee year in our parasha, means taking something forward.
Hey, Elias, if you cared for children in Gaza, why didn't you fly to Ben Gurion airport, cut over to Gaza, and enlist at the local Hamas recruiting office? Opinion.
The full solution is in the parsha this week.
The Torah commentator, the Alshich Hakadosh, bothered by this very issue, offers, that Shemittah astoundingly serves as the rebuttal to the claims of the Jew-haters and fools that sneer at our right to the land of Israel, and claim that the land of Israel was stolen by the Jews.
Yes, there is an unbreakable bond between Hashem and the Jewish people.
A person who is not subjugated to Torah - but to his possessions and his wealth - can not observe the mitzvah of shemita, whilst he still feels that he is the master of his fields.
And a call to rebuild a House of Prayer for the Nations, as prophesied.
We might be seeing now the beginning of the period where one evil nation wages war on another evil one, while in the background their countries are being ravaged by Hashem’s manipulation of natural disasters.
The Torah says that during the exile of the Jewish people, as they wandered the ends of the Earth, the Land of Israel will be desolate and barren, unable to support large thriving populations. And then comes the next part.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
This parsha contains the secret to overcoming anxiety and self-doubt.
In moments of personal hardship, it is natural to wonder: Why am I not being rewarded for my efforts? The Torah’s answer is painful, but empowering.
A radical compromise to the IDF draft controversy. Op-ed
Indeterminacy, as in the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, overturns the old, classical idea of a perfectly predictable, clockwork universe and shows that chance and possibility are woven into the very structure of reality.
In recent generations, human consciousness has developed and expanded greatly, while the study and clarification of faith has not been sufficiently established to cope with it. The more we clarify faith and refine the guidance of the Torah, the more faith in God and His Torah will return to beat in hearts.
What is the nature of the Jewish people? Is the nation merely the combined contribution of each individual Jew? Or are the Jewish people as a whole a national collective with its own special holiness?
Though we are once again sovereign in our ancestral homeland for the first time since the days of Queen Shlom-Zion, the murderers still stalk us. And though tragedy strikes, we are in an incomparably better situation than we have been at any time since Queen Shlom-Zion.
Torah commentaries weigh in on the philosophic and practical issue of the difference between Shabbat and the other festivals and why Shabbat is mentioned with them despite that.
Why Reb Shimon ben Yoachai's passing came to be known as a "Wedding,"
It is taught that on the day of his passing, Rabbi Shimon taught secrets of the Torah that had never been heard before.
This ability, to see the good even in something that appears faulty, is what God demanded of Moses before he could redeem Israel, and likewise of Isaiah. When Rachel saw this trait in Akiva, she chose to marry him.
Not only Rashbi, but all those who follow in his path throughout the generations, especially in our generation, the generation of revival and the ingathering of exiles - whether they are aware of it or not - are sustained by the merit of his and their self-sacrifice.
There is a clear distinction between what is expected of the ordinary Jew and what is demanded of the Kohen.
Judaism is supposed to be a springboard, not a crutch.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
