Who is greater? Noah or Avraham. Let us compare the two following the example of Chazal..
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak provided a daring translation of Rashi’s comment on why Noah didn't enter the ark until forced to by the rain - and it is a lesson for all of us.
Noah, Daniel and Job saw three worlds. So have we.
Mere mutual interest and collective survival are not sufficient to unite all humanity and safeguard the world
The episode of Noach’s drunkenness is a poignant commentary on the difficulty of beginning again in a universe that has seen death and pain. The haftarah and G-d's words to Noach tell us how to begin again today as well.
“The dove found rest on it (Shabbat), and there the weary will rest,” wrote Yehuda Halevy.
Why does Rashi comment: ’’Noach debased himself’ - he should have first engaged in planting something other than a vineyard."
Shem and Yefet covered their father’s shame; so should we.
On the book that presents intimate descriptions of two giants of Torah and their teachings, set against the dramatic rebirth of the Land of Israel and the Statehood of Israel in our times.
Granted that the world could not have come into being without Him, once created, can it persist on its own, independent of His sustaining Providence?
This is the great contradiction within the human soul - the eternal internal battle we all wage every moment of our lives.
Due to Sukkot, the shloshim for Rabbi Prof. Dov Fischer will not take place 30 days after his burial, so we are posting this memorial piece now, a tribute to the brilliant mind, fearless voice, and unbreakable heart of American Orthodoxy's most compelling advocate.
Just as your hand touches no object but feels and experiences the force between electron clouds, so too are we constantly connected to the energy of Holiness that sustains all existence invisibly yet tangibly.
Judaism’s Thirteen Principles of Faith begin with the need to recognize Hashem as the world's Creator.
Even a religious and spiritually righteous person is capable of being afflicted with historical blindness.
From watching the behavior of a tzaddik, one can learn as much as from his Torah lectures.
According to Rav Kook, the Torah of Eretz Yisrael is fundamentally different in its method and scope.
Even a match decreed in Heaven must be built on earth. Every marriage requires avodah - work, patience, understanding, forgiveness, and joy in each other’s growth.
The point of a Jew's yearly restart is not to wallow in feelings of guilt but to convert inner accusation into constructive return and renewal.
As we begin the Torah with Bereishit, we are reminded by the Netziv that our forefathers' uprightness contrasts with the baseless hatred that led to the destruction of the Second Temple, urging us to embrace unity and respect.
Torah Judaism is not progressive liberalism.
The Majesty of Debate.
A nation that frees its murderers cannot protect its children. The lesson Hamas learned in past deals was not Israel's mercy. It was that Jewish blood has a price-and that price is Israel's willingness to empty its prisons.
A seemingly contradicttory account of the creation of vegetation and trees teaches a deep message about our relationship to G-d.
The opening word of the Torah, בְּרֵאשִׁית, “in the beginning”, already encoded all of what was to come, the potential of everything which will ever be.
There is no comfort in this teaching, no way to apply it without heartbreak, but it is filled with long term wisdom.
not only does Parashat BeReishit contain a reference to Eretz Yisrael, we will see below that it completely depends upon it.
If Man was created without the capacity for shame, why would it suddenly emerge as a result of prohibited eating?
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.
When you're holding the four species, when you beat the aravot, do you feel this power?
As we have faced the unspeakable evil of some and the moral confusion of others, we are more fiercely committed than ever to be driven, guided, and uplifted by Hashem and His Torah.
The radical transition from the Yom Kippur solemnity to the Simchat Torah revelry can be dizzying, but it makes sense. Just as our joy at the hostages' return accompanied by sorrow at our losses.. There is a method to the madness.
Sukkot teaches us that just as Hashem encompassed and supernaturally protected B’nei Yisrael in the desert, the Midbar, we too must palpably sense that He surrounds us and intervenes in the world and in our lives.
A full life requires only one ingredient: the Torah.
Your life, even if it is incomplete, even if it is fragile, is still a gift. Notice the openings, the small moments of relief, the return of the hostages.They are part of Hashem’s care, a taste of the greater shalom to come.
This thirst is not intellectual curiosity but existential longing-a hunger that only communion with G-d can satisfy. Opinion.
As we conclude Sukkot 5786, we daven that the hostages all return safely, and we enter Shemini Atzeret hoping to reinforce and strengthen our achdut
Every time the people of Israel neglected the commandment of settling the Land, they paid heavy prices for it.
When the end approaches there will be many troubles growing in strength, a sign of Yisrael’s salvation.
'If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite' -William Blake.
The Sukkah is temporary just like our stay in this world, but it is a permanent fixture to deliver mitzvot to the next world.
Thoughts from Judaism on the peace plan.
Young religious Zionist Torah scholars connect the Torah readings and holidays tto Eretz Yisrael.
The magnitude of Hashem's voice is perceived in accordance with the spiritual intensity of the respective place and situation.
How to pronounce it and why.
Thoughts on this day, on hearing of an agreement.
Don’t we get a new chance each year? Isn’t that what the High Holy Days are all about—a chance to start again? A Yom Kippur sermon that is relevant every day of the year.
The late Former Chief Rabbi and head of Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, an outstanding Torah luminary, was a kindly, warm man with twinkling eyes. But when it came to Eretz Yisrael, he burned with zeal and there were no compromises.
My love will be stronger than your defiance.
Rabbi Fischer z"l was buried next to his beloved Ellen on Erev Sukkot at the Etz Chayim Cemetery, and eloquently eulogized by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky and Rabbi Pesach Lerner alone, due to the proximity of the holiday. A friend sent added words of remembrance that include excerpts from his articles.
Why does this holiday of rejoicing immediately follow the High Holidays?
Based on the pattern expressed earlier of connecting the ending and beginning of the Torah, we notice that the last letter of the Torah, and the first letter of the Torah, combine to form the word “Le”v”--the Hebrew word for Heart! Undoubtedly, the Torah is expressing that the foundation that circulates lifeblood to the Jewish people is the Torah, the very essence of our existence.
A well loved Israeli children's song for Sukkot is "Shlomit builds a sukkah of peace." That is not what the sukkah is really about.
The aravah receives the pinnacle of honor among the Arba’at Haminim of Sukkot. What does that signify?
On Sukkot, we demonstrate that we are in love with life in this world; with our whole being, we immerse ourselves in the mitzvah
Just as Redemption preceded the world and is essential to it, so too did repentance.
The walls define the space, the sechach fills that space with holiness and warmth. And we need to respect the walls.
The four species which we are commanded to take for ourselves on the Festival of Sukkot are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, just as the Torah is indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, and the Jewish People are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael.
The lessons of the last two years remind us that although our enemies in every generation devise elaborate plans to destroy us, Hashem ensures our survival.
