“Perhaps you will say in your heart: these nations are greater, more numerous, than I – how will I ever be able to drive them out (Deut. 7:17)?” Moshe understands that this is what the Israelites will feel at the prospect of the enormous task of conquering the land. The enemies, the obstacles, are too […]
SHORT ESSAY: Undaunted (Parashat Eikev) Read More »
This Shabbat is the ninth day of Av, and yet we do no mourning or fasting on it until the following day. There is a powerful message here. Tisha B’av speaks a certain kind of truth. It speaks the truth of judgment and sadness and suffering and destruction and disconnection and dislocation. And also the
SHORT ESSAY: On Shabbat and Tisha B’Av (Parashat Devarim and Tisha B’Av) Read More »
In devoting my life to Torah, I consider that I am carrying on the legacy of my father and my grandfather. My father loved Rashi so much that he believed that he was given an extra four years of life in order to pursue more of his work on Rashi. My grandfather was shot in
SHORT ESSAY: My Grandfather’s Inheritance (Parashat Pinchas) Read More »
Use the energy; don’t fight it or squash it. The energy may be manifesting in a negative form, but it can be turned to good. At first, God forbade Balaam from going to curse Israel. No, you stay home and don’t prophesy at all rather than use your talents to harm My people. But God
SHORT ESSAY: Redirecting Negative Energy (Parashat Balak) Read More »
Most resources are finite and can be used up. Not so God’s love for us. (Click image to read more)
SHORT ESSAY: No Matter How Low You Sink (Parashat Shemot) Read More »
One kind act can shift the course of history. In this week’s parsha, Yaakov hears that Esav is approaching with 400 men. Was Esav planning an aggressive attack? The Torah doesn’t tell us but Yaakov certainly thinks so. The possible destruction of the future Jewish people is headed off by what? By Yaakov’s overflowing generous
SHORT ESSAY: One Kind Act (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
“If you are breathing, that is nature’s way of saying that you belong here. You are enough.” I saw this on a teacher website, something that a teacher said to his students every day as part of a breathing meditation. I would adjust that to: If you are breathing, that is God’s way of saying
SHORT ESSAY: Not Because We Deserve It (Parashat Eikev) Read More »
Often in life, one feels some slight dissonance or discomfort, as if you are a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. There is your true self and then there is what you have to do to get through the day and they don’t always match up exactly. The world has expectations, institutions
SHORT ESSAY: On Oneness and Wholeness (Parashat Va’etchanan) Read More »
Our lives, our choices are not completely determined by our parents’ paths and by our past. We each shape our own destinies. At every moment we have complete freedom to act in a fresh new way. In this week’s parsha we find a few examples of this freedom. Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milchah and Tirzah are
SHORT ESSAY: The Unstuck Children of Sinners (Parashat Pinchas) Read More »
My father spoke beautiful English with a heavy Polish/Yiddish/Russian/Israeli accent. He loved this country. He liked to say that this was the only country in the world where a poor immigrant-refugee like him could come and have his children educated in the highest institutions in the country. In 2007, almost exactly 10 years ago, he
SHORT ESSAY: My Father’s Torah on the Ger, the Immigrant (Parashat Mishpatim) Read More »