Dr. Elliot Resnick

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch:Should we have a welfare state?

Helping people is wonderful, indeed obligatory., but there are principles involved.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha: Don't be an angel

Man is called on to sanctify the material world, not shun it, writes Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch.  So why do we fast?

Rabbi S.R.HIrsch on the parasha: When grieving is forbidden

If we’re alive, it means G-d wants us to be alive, and we must “serve Him with all our might."

Rabbi.Hirsch on the parsha: Why connect childbirth and impurity?

What is the significance of this connection?

Rabbi S.R. Hirsch on the parasha: No Moral Indulgences

Nadav and Avihu: The elites often permit themselves moral laxity but the Torah grants no such indulgences.

Rabbi S. R. Hirsch on the parsha: Why are the details important?

Rabbi Hirsch's commentary on the Book of Vayikra is where he explains the meaning of laws that might seem meaningless.

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch on the Parsha: What about Non-Jews?

Our G-d is not a particularistic G-d.  He is the father of all of humanity. How does the parasha show that?

Rabbi Hirsch on the parasha: Are we doomed without Korbanot?

How can we be forgiven without the essence of Temple worship, the offerings brought to God?

Rabbi S. R. Hirsch on the parsha: We don't need an intermediary

What is the point of the tablets being readable on both their sides?

Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch on the parasha: Hearing voices

What really happened at Mount Sinai? After all, say skeptics, God doesn't speak to us.

Rav Hirsch on MIshpatim: When the Gemara doesn’t make sense…

How the Sages can derive laws from minutae in the Torah that others don't see..

An altar of earth? Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the parasha

This is one of the places in the Torah where Rabbi Hirsch's philosophy of Torah and Derekh Eretz can be understood.

Rabbi S. R. Hirsch on the parsha: Would you have trusted G-d?

There was absolutely no precedent, there was only faith.

Op-ed:

Who’s really to blame for Friday’s terrorist attack?

We have a choice.  We can continue to whine, or we can elect to win.  And whether we win or not is in our hands. Op-ed.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch: Rosh Chodesh - our “Restart App”

Just as an entirely new moon emerges every month, so too we can become entirely new versions of ourselves if we will it

Modern Paganism : Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha

Sanctifying our desires is pagan, not Jewish.  Pleading victimhood to external forces is likewise pagan, not Jewish.

Not fit for the job? Great! Rav S. R. Hirsch on the parasha

G-d told Moshe: “This” – your inadequacy and self-doubt – will be a sign to the Jews that I have sent you.

Do we need more zealotry? Rav Shimshon R. Hirsch on the parsha

Most of us understand Jacob's words to mean that Shimon and Levi’s zealotry must be diffused. Rabbi Hirsch differs.

Thank G-d for the Ghetto: Rav Samson Refael Hirsch on the parsha

Living in Goshen was a wise decision on the part of the Jews and a message for future exiles.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on Miketz: What was Yosef thinking?

Do righteous men play cruel games on other people?  How could Yosef terrify his brothers?

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha: How could they?

How could Yaakov’s sons have been so cruel?

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: Does Esau still hate Jacob?

When Esav meets Yaakov, a part of him acknowledges the superiority of Yaakov’s path in life. But does he continue to hate his brother?

No, YU shouldn’t 'love' proud LGBT students

YU is beyond the pale in accepting the public flaunting of LGBT behavior, unequivocally prohibited by the Torah. Op-ed.

Why are we focusing on self-esteem?

In all of Jewish literature, one would be hard-pressed to find a single statement glorifying self-esteem. Humility, however, is much lauded.