The Lubavitcher Rebbe made it a daily habit to sit with his wife and drink a cup of tea. He said that this was a holy commitment.
Jacob (Ya'akov) and Israel (Yisrael) are not alternative names, but two levels of approach to the same mission. Which level are we on today?
\Israel’s enemies today are as disparate as the Amorites, Moab, Midian, Aram, Canaanites and Philistines -and will have the same fate.
The Talmud teaches us that from the words of blessing from the mouth of Bilaam, we can determine what his true intent was: Poison candy.
There are levels of dedication to Am Yisrael that only Moshe reached. His hitting the rock, say these commentators, is an example.
Disparaging the State of Israel is a shortcoming that seemingly justifies remaining in the Diaspora today, but it does not hold water.
In our generation, the fear of assimilation has become an important consideration in accepting converts.
In Judaism, husband and wife must sever the relationsihp, hence a recalcitrant husband can mean a 'chained' wife.
Tammuz 3, the Rebbe's yahrzeit is just behind us, but his wisdom lights our way forward. One example and some additional golden nuggets..
'The difference is that Diaspora Jewry is feeling the spasms of death while the Jews in Israel are experiencing the spasms of birth.'
Just as we know the inevitability of death, we also need to comprehend the redeeming power of growth and change.
if you want to find out how important something is, the best way is to do without it for some time and then you’ll really appreciate it.
Israel's first Chief Rabbi: The paradigm here shifted from speaking to striking, from receptive listening to coercive force.
38 years passed between last week's Parsha and this one. Not only did the whole nation die, all three of its leaders pass away.:
When goyim attack our religious beliefs, the best thing is to say, “because Hashem said so”, and discussion finished.
This week we read about the deaths of Aharon and Miriam - but only Aharon is mourned. Why is that? Why does the Torah just move on?
Maimonides sets out a surprisingly contemporary account of Judaism as a training in emotional intelligence. Moses' anger as an example.
The inexorable march of time is the thread running through the parasha.
The tethers that hold us back, birthdays and other insights that are part of the larger story of our people.
Must we immortalize Moses’ greatest detractor by recording his story for posterity and naming a Torah portion after him?
The 5 events on the 17th of Tammuz are tied together by the astute explanation given by Rabbi Norman Lamm.z"l on why synagogues fail.
The baby boy or girl has a feeling heart and a thinking brain. They have arms and legs and they move them at will. Op-ed.
How ironic that the most irrational of all creatures – human beings – criticize Jewish tradition as not being rational or easily explained.
When Am Yisrael is scattered and out of its place, then the Name of G-d, which is the Torah, cannot come to full expression in this world
The first mention of cancellation in case of non-observance of mitzvot appears in the ‘Beit Yitzchak’ responsa about a hundred years ago.
Ezekiel: The Redemption may come not as the reward for changing our ways, but in order to end the desecration of His Holy Name in galut.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.
if we had a Geiger counter to measure the Divine Presence, in Israel it would crackle loudly, while outside Israel it would hardly be heard.
In a contest for power, if I lose, I lose. But if I win, I also lose, because in diminishing my opponents I have diminished myself.
Weekly Torah Study: Korach.
See how seven Torah commentators elucidate this one phrase.in different, but non-contradictory ways.
Israel's first Chief Rabbi: Kohanim are not meant to be intermediaries to God, but to enable immediacy to God.
Elyahu Blanco returned to his roots, leaving Cuba to end up at an Israeli yeshiva. Now he dreams of opening a Chabad house in Havana.
The vision of the world may change, at times bright, at times dark. And yet the inner glow remains untouched, unchanged, undimmed.
Do not feed a false fire. It will only grow stronger.
I wear tzitzit under my shirt and let the fringes hang down at my side. All I need to do is glance at them and I remember exactly who I am.
This is not what Moshe originally planned!! What happened there? Why did the land need to open up?!
Korach's challenge to Moshe sounds almost like an anarchist’s protest against any form of authority, he was no common rabble rouser.:
Learn about a project to make sure our soldiers have a kosher Torah scroll wherever they serve.
It is quite common in history that dangerous, corrupt, and nefarious political groups always claim the high moral ground for themselves.
Science, philosophy, nationbuilding, and commandment orientation are all packed into Shlach Lecha’s mitzva of tzitzit, copied for our flag.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.
Insights into Judaism: Jewish time, flying fringes, where to pray and more.
Weekly Torah Study: Shelach.
From the book by Tzvi Glatt, young Torah Scholar from America who studied at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva.and was killed by terrorists in Hevron.
How do our children see themselves and meet the challenges of summer vacation? From whose example can they learn and grow?
Young religious Zionist Torah scholars on the parasha: The spies led to a rebellion against God and against Eretz Yisrael simultaneously.
The sin of the Spies lay in their misconception that faith is revealed in miracles, while nature is alienated from faith
Do the sections following the Sin of the Spies - Temple wine libations and tzitzit - have any connection with the story of the spies?
The ‘first’ is always the most precious in a person’s mind; by setting it aside for Hashem, it becomes especially beloved by Hashem.
Thirty years before the Exodus, a vast contingent of Ephraimites left Egypt because they had miscalculated the end-time for Egyptian exile.
What exactly is tzitzit? How does the tzitzit help us with remembering all the mitzvahs of Hashem? What is tzitzit all about?!
Farmers bringing their First Fruits to the Temple know what the Spies did not relate to.
The Parsha and Current Events.
They set out to produce an ‘accessible’ Mishnah. The price tag: $645.
Scrambling for success can make you think attaining it is more important than your eternal values.
Why the Torah praise Aaron for listening to G-d's command? Would we expect anything else?
If you can’t get people to stop labeling Jews, then change the label into something positive, including the."off the derech" label.
The people’s relationship with the Creator was dysfunctional and it seems they did not share Hs program for their future.
