Sivan Rahav-Meir

The Daily Portion / What's your new year's resolution?

Here are a few suggestions...

The Daily Portion / Is something special in the air?

Is it only me or, during these final days of 5783, is there something truly special in the air?

The Daily Portion / Selichot at sea

An experience students will take with them for life.

Prayers for our children in the new school year

These first days of the school year evoke prayers from the depth of our hearts.

The Daily Portion: A message for Elul from King David

King David, too, experienced numerous troubles throughout his life.

Less than a month to Yom Kippur

Are you prepared? Are you ready?

How hatred over past grievances keeps us enslaved

There is no reason to build our lives on hatred and to perpetuate any trauma we have suffered.

Elements of this week's Torah portion, haftarah, and Elul

This Torah portion lists more mitzvot than any other parasha, 77 out of the 613 total mitzvot that are included in the Torah.

Wanted: A breakthrough year

Don't think prolem, think opportunity.

A preschool teacher who fell in the line of duty

We know how she taught her nursery school pupils. What did the murderer's teacher's curriculum contain?

The Daily Portion / Five elements of Rosh Chodesh Elul

This month is identified with a desire for self-improvement and change. The shofar blown each morning is a wakeup call.

The Daily Portion / A little comment of great significance

If something is important to you, you know its magnitude.

The Daily Portion / Renew yourself!

In which areas of life -- during this blessed time -- has our potential yet to be fulfilled?

The Daily Portion / Some thoughts concerning Shabbat

We are obligated to add to Jewish identity another pillar: the pillar of Shabbat.

The Daily Portion, Re'eh / Seven revolutionary words

*"See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. What blessing? What curse?

The inspiring filter of the Land of Israel

"A land the Lord your God looks after; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it."

The Daily Portion / 3 thoughts for the 15th of Av

May we merit joyful days, unconditional love for one another, and be inscribed and sealed in the book of life.

An awesome privilege and an awesome power

What a privilege it is to live in the land of Israel.

Va'etchanan / 4 elements associated with this Shabbat

0'Be consoled, be consoled, my people', says Isaiah. And Rav Kook said that his message is this generation's mission.

The Daily Portion / A conversation in Sacher Park

One of the women said she would not forget this conversation for the rest of her life. In truth, I won't forget it either.

The Daily Portion / An unbroken, eternal chain of Torah scholars

There is something special about the Rashbam stopping in the midst of his learning to acknowledge the death of his grandfather.

The Daily Portion / Why did Congress applaud?

I imagine that a few tears were shed as hundreds of members of Congress and the Senate rose to their feet and applauded Herzog,

The Daily Portion, Devarim / Love before criticism

Have we loved someone enough to be able to criticize him?

The educational principles of Rabbi Amital zt"l

The Daily Portion / Blocking off a road - together

The road through Beit El was blocked off for the sake of the motorcade, but it was of an entirely different kind those over judicial reform

The Daily Portion, Matot-Masei / Our constant challenge

Make what is primary -- primary, and what is secondary -- secondary.

The Daily Portion / In memory of David Yehuda Yitzhak

The Egoz Elite Commando Unit fighter who fell in Jenin was a remarkably kind and caring person. May his memory be blessed.

Pinchas / The most optimistic words in the Torah

Korach's sons did not die.

Summer vacation's greatest challenge: Building a goodly tent

Our home is what has characterized us, more than anything else, for several thousand years.

Balak / Bilam and his talking donkey: It's not a fairy tale*

The talking donkey is one mysterious event out of the many in our world.

The Daily Portion / Why do I love the Lubavitcher Rebbe?

If you have something to give, the world is waiting for you to give it, to fulfill your mission.

The Daily Portion / Creating a private Defensive Shield

The Daily Portion / The significance of my birthday -- and yours

A birthday celebration is meant to remind you that God believes in you and your talents, that your existence is precious to Him.

The Daily Portion, Korach and the coming week: 5 elements

Note the warning at the end of the Torah reading.

The Daily Portion: Don't be like Korach: Excel in who you are

Not everyone must strive to be number one.

The Daily Portion, Shelach / Are we afraid of success?

What really was bothering the ten spies?

The Daily Portion / Torah messages for young graduates

Four messages from the parasha for graduates.

The Daily Portion / The great parents of a great man

The Daily Portion, Behaalotecha / In their memory

In memory of Uri Itzhak Ilouz, Lia Ben-Nun, and Ohad Dahan who were killed near the Egyptian border.

The Daily Portion / On being escorted by the Torah

19 Torah scrolls were displayed in a special ceremony, after which they were brought for genizah or interment to the Mt of Olives.

The Daily Portion, Behaalotecha / One mission at a time

The instructions for lighting the Menorah have a deeper rationale than one would imagine.

The Daily Portion, Naso / May you be blessed . . . and protected too

In Israel, we have already read Naso, but in the Diaspora, it will be read this coming Shabbat.

The Daily Portion / Sunrise at the Kotel (Western Wall)*

I decided to be just a reporter for a few minutes to find out who the people were:

The Daily Portion / Uri Zohar: He renewed his passion every day

Yesterday was his first yahrzeit. In memoriam.

The Daily Portion / Mommy, did you count?*

Our little daughter would not let me go to bed until she checked to see if I had counted the Omer.

The Daily Portion/5 aspects of Jerusalem Day and the Six-Day War

Even Haaretz joined in the joy at the liberation of Jerusalem, quoting Psalms in its lead article on that miraculous day.

The Daily Portion / Planting trees where rockets fall

With their hands and their bare feet the children covered the roots of the trees with the sandy soil that borders the Gaza Strip.

The Daily Portion / What I learned from Rabbi Simcha Kook

Today is the venerable Torah Sage's first yahrzeit. In his memory.

The Daily Portion: Praying for a permanent peace

To pray for a victory that is not just a deterrent to future attacks, not just a cease-fire, but a permanent end to hostilities.

The Daily Portion / A message from the city of Sderot

We need to remember that terror is primarily about creating  fear, anxiety, and hysteria - and we do not have to fall prey to that.

The Daily Portion / A message from David Hatuel: Choose life

How David Hatuel reacted to the elimination of the terrorist who shot and killed his pregnant wife and four daughters.

The Daily Portion / Five elements of this past Shabbat

Emor / Knowing from where you came

Our sages say that  God calls to each of us in this manner: "Know from where you came."

The Daily Portion / International Bible Quiz champions speak

"The more you learn," Neta said, "the easier it gets."

The Daily Portion,/ How to love your fellow as yourself

Words from the Torah that are not easy to apply/:

The Daily Portion: The greatest story ever told

We are simply too preoccupied with our daily troubles to do a zoom out for a brief moment in order to see the process that is at work.

The Daily Portion / I am not a robot!

There are things more important than technology and contests.

The Daily Portion / 5 aspects of the new month of Iyar

The month of Iyar possesses a special quality unique among all the months of the year. What is it?

The Daily Portion / 6 essential facts about the Holocaust

Feelings are not enough, we must not neglect cold, hard, dry facts.

The Daily Portion / Our return to Pirkei Avot

Prikei Avot is a text about values and part of the Talmud. No matter how many times it is read, there is always something new to learn.