A Jew remains responsible for another Jew even when they are not standing on the same mountain.
The one thing new money cannot buy is old money, so the people at an 1897 gala rented someone else’s past for the evening. It was ancestry as wishful thinking. Which brings me to the opening of Parshat Ki Tavo - the exact opposite.
The past tells us only how long we have already waited. It cannot tell us how quickly things may change.
When G-d wants you to compliment yourself
The mitzvah of bringing the first fruits teaches that true gratitude is more than a feeling - it requires memory, recognition, and action.
Good people leave behind an outstanding legacy through others, and future generations benefit from the example that has been set.
Which rules your life?
We must not ignore the goodness, kindnesses, miracles, and wonders that the Lord, Blessed be He, performs for us day after day.
I know the title of this article will trigger almost every Jew and please every antisemite. But I say to both of you, don’t judge an article by its title. Read on and see what I mean.
The nisayon changes. The Torah does not.
The farmer does not simply bring his fruit to Jerusalem. He tells a story.
There are four languages of the redemption promised by Hashem, - for which, the four glasses of wine are drunk at the Seder - but there is a fifth promise as well. Which promise is that?
We are not the givers, but are merely transferring what Hashem has allotted. Happy is the one who has the merit to serve as Hashem’s delivery person.
The study of Torah, through which the spiritual world is sustained, is carried out by Torah scholars and by all Jews who set aside regular times for Torah study.
While Rabbi Kook emphasizes that the teshuva of the Jewish People and a return to the Torah go hand-in-hand, he indicates that a preliminary stage of national revival will begin this spiritual awakening.
Modern culture remains trapped in a paradigm of conflict, viewing human interaction as a zero-sum struggle driven by isolation and survival. This essay demonstrates that physical separation is an illusion, offering a scientific and spiritual framework for radical empathy and personal transformation.
Yerach Yamim - A time to bring the past to a close.
An experience is also a picture. You stand before it and gaze back at it, and the date is in the past.
How are we to determine the ideal forms of behavior?
My father, the Rav HaNazir, and Rav Tzvi Yehudah were of the opinion that everyone is obligated to go out and fight. This was a milhemet mitzvah, a compulsory war, in which all are expected to participate.
What was wrong with the Moabites and the Ammonites?
Isaiah’s message was one of consolation, but also of responsibility.
We are not just a united nation. We are a nation of one, so interconnected that we are like a single person. A look at the parasha's topics shows it.
Hashem arranged the forces of purity and impurity to work in tandem
Dealing with children who derail your life.
The manner in which we confront the wiles of the yetser ha’ra in its efforts to subvert our avodat Hashem, is the true measure of our service of our Creator.
From war and the struggle with the enemy to marriage, education and mutual responsibility: a journey through the three circles of the Jewish soul.
The Torah's lesson is one Israel learned tragically on October 7: Do not mistake quiet for a permanent change in the intentions of those who wish us harm.
Where is the real Western Wall?
Because of the closeness to his family, a person ometimes allows himself to speak ill of his wife, husband, children, uncles, and other relatives. This is an unfortunate error.
It is painful to note that, today, the degree of assimilation in the USA is such that, in the not distant future, the once robust American Jewish community will be a shell of its former self.
The Tur on the Laws of Rosh Hashanah wrote: "Therefore the Sages established that the shofar should be blown on the first day of Elul every year and all through the month..."
Note: The parapet around the roof of a house protects the house. “You shall not place blood in your house": inside the house - inside the national home - must be a safe place.
Man is a soul sent into the world to serve God. Therefore, all of his powers are necessarily enlisted in this plan.
A new AI-powered platform launched in Savyon aims to make Jewish law, tradition and daily practices accessible worldwide, while connecting users with more than 1,000 rabbis.
Perhaps we should take a moment to examine the substance of the dispute between us, and perhaps then we will know how, at the very least, not to serve as oil on the fire.
Why are we allowed to kill animals for food?
The 5-Step Program of Spiritual Courtship, Engagement, Marriage, Honeymoon, and Real Life.
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.
I heard my 11-year-old son Eli shouting across an otherwise tranquil resort pool: “AM YISRAEL CHAI!" Loudly, very loudly. And at first, I was worried.
The power of teshuvah is not limited, it encompasses every domain of life, that of the individual and that of civilization as a whole.
A house can contain people who are different from one another, each with his own character and his own way, and yet they are all living under the same roof. That is the picture we should have of Am Yisrael.
Excerpted from the biography “Above the Stream" by Tzvi Fishman,
Chazon Ish: “It appears that what we learned in the Mishnah, that in an obligatory war even a groom goes out from his chamber, does not refer to a situation in which their assistance is needed to win the war, for it is obvious that for the sake of saving lives and saving the nation, everyone is obligated."
We are expected to rise, to rebuild and to act.
What does the Torah mean when Moshe communicates that the prophet must be 'Like me'?
Hashem adjures us to ‘cleave to Him’ - and as Hashem is upright and righteous, one who wants to cleave to Him, has to also be ‘upright and righteous’.
The Torah teaches that stealing from the community is not less serious than stealing from an individual. In some ways, it is even more dangerous.
Giving enemies, who are sworn to our destruction, parts of Israel is equally emphatically not the Jewish way of relating to them.
As Jews, our national mission requires that certain individual preferences be sacrificed for the sake of societal good.
The word 'settlers' is often used as a pejorative, but a study of the Torah, the Sages, and the words of our Rabbis reveals the central place of 'inheritance' in the Jewish story.
The shofar does not teach what we never knew. It awakens what we have allowed ourselves to forget.
Our generation has been given something Jews prayed for over the course of centuries: the ability to defend ourselves in our own land.
In previous generations, only great spiritual giants were capable of attaining the loftier level of Teshuvah MeAhavah. But times have changed.
The surest sign of the revealed End of the Exile is when the Land of Israel gives forth her fruits in abundance, something which our generation has merited to witness. Medinat Yisrael is the greatest miracle that has transpired in the world since the beginning of Creation.
It is forbidden to harm Arabs or their property in order to deter them from harming Jews, or to expel them. It is forbidden for any person to break the law and take the law into his own hands.
Post-Tu b’Av Full Moon, a Special Shabbat Night, and the Rebbe’s Remarks in His Last Public Address.
We must protect our communities from online messages intended to weaken faith, normalize transgression, and influence others-particularly the young and vulnerable-to reject the sacred foundations of Jewish life.
Parshat Re'eh opens with “See" and ends with “be seen." What does the Torah teach us about the many levels of seeing - from physical sight to spiritual vision?
