The Door That Opened Heavenly Doors
I was stunned. Everything had lined up so perfectly. My heart cried, This was your chance! But my conscience said otherwise. I was stunned. Everything had lined up so perfectly. My heart cried, This was your chance! But my conscience said otherwise.
For My Brother!
On one occasion, Reuven demanded payment in the presence of witnesses. I admit fully that I owe you $500, replied Hillel, but unfortunately I’m still not able to pay you; my financial situation remains very difficult.
Daf Yomi
A Talmida Chachama
‘If He Is A Scholar, He Is Not Sworn’
(Shavuos 41a)
Investing in “Hell Insurance”
As we are taught, Ein tzaddik ba’aretz asher yaaseh tov v’lo yecheta – There is no righteous person in this world who does good and doesn’t sin, there is certainly what to worry about.
It’s Just Another Monday
We have been here before. We have seen how quickly the world turns. How Jewish suffering is minimized. How our tears are measured against the political utility of those who hate us.
Q & A: K’chut Ha’sa’ara – Harsh Punishment (Conclusion)
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiva’s students. If he was so great, we must assume that they were of a superior caliber. If so, why such a harsh punishment?
Zelig Aronson
Queens, N.Y.
What’s In A Parsha?
The sedra has 2,264 words and 8,632 letters. Even though Naso’s pesukim are well below average in length (in number of words or letters), it still ranks #1 in all categories.
J’Accuse
The students who harassed Jewish students, destroyed property, disrupted classes, and ruined graduations with their blood libels against our nation. Your misguided protests have blurred the lines between truth and falsehood.
With All One’s Heart
Wealth can also lead one astray: Wealth hoarded by its owner is to his detriment (Koheles 5:12). Avshalom was blessed with beautiful hair (Sotah 11a) and Shimshon was blessed with strength, but these attributes led them astray.
The Longest Chapter, the Deepest Exile
Parshat Naso, as you know, is the longest single parsha in the Torah. In most years, Naso follows Shavuot, which is appropriate – once...
A Vision
With regard to the Birkas Kohanim, the Zohar comments that actions performed in this earthly world inspire astounding conduct in Heaven. When the Kohanim spread their fingers to bless the Jewish people, it rouses the Divine Presence to dwell upon His people.
Blessing Israel
Israel is blessed in the merit of the three fathers, also in whose merit the Torah was given.
When Selfish Becomes Selfless
Everyone wants to contribute something significant to the world; to play a meaningful part in the cosmic symphony we call life. This desire is an inherent part of being human.
Lashing Out and Maintaining Dignity
We see that it is a Torah value to maintain composure, even under the most dire circumstances. When we look at the commentaries, we see different ideas as to why this is so, each reflecting on the human condition. Rashi says that remaining calm rattles and humiliates the enemy.
Slow Down
If we want to savor life, the only way is to slow things down.
What They’ll Never Understand About the Jews
Our response now must be as it like at Har Sinai, to turn to one another with a sense of oneness, love, and unity and to wish each other chazak
Lesson Learned
How many people choose to politely confront the people they’ve been hurt by without bearing a grudge, stewing, seeking revenge or sulking?
Part of Barter
It’s not my fault that the Chofetz Chaim card was ruined; it’s your loss!
From Genetics to Genesis: Discovering the Divine Signature in Creation
Just as Hashem spoke the world into being, perhaps He wrote His will into our very cells.
Q & A: Ke’chut Hasa’ara – Harsh Punishment (Part II)
Question: I find it very difficult to understand the punishment of death that was meted out to Rabbi Akiva’s students. If he was so great, we can assume that his students were of a superior caliber as well. How did they rate such a harsh punishment?
Zelig Aronson
Queens, N.Y.
Tuning In
Like in an election, the division of the land among the twelve tribes had to be supervised by officials who made sure that there would be no fraud involved in allocating the land.
Shavuot – Why Is This Night Different?
Pesach and Shavuot...represent the liberation of the body and the liberation of the mind, respectively.
Shavuot and the “Pintele Yid”
Shavuot commemorates the day when we all gathered at Har Sinai to receive the Torah, “as one person with one heart", meaning that we stood together in perfect unity. How tragic it is that it takes an attack from our enemies to make us feel unified.
Tzom Gedalia Lesson for Negotiators
The road to Gehinnom is paved with good intentions – such as the unwarranted benefit of the doubt that too-credulous well-intended leaders and negotiators give their undeserving counterparts.
Covenant & Conversation: Bamidbar: The Ever-Repeated Story
But the Torah is not mere history as a sequence of events. The Torah is about the truths that emerge through time.
An Early Second Night of Shavuot?
Since the case of early second night Yom Tov involves infringing on a holier day for the sake of a less holy one, it seems more analogous to davening Motzaei Shabbat Maariv and reciting havdalah after plag on Shabbat afternoon.
TORAH SHORTS: Parshat Bamidbar: The Discipline of Sanctity
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.— Proverb (widely attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux)
A Central Theme of Shavuos
How do Torah scholars make more peace in the world?
The Spiritual Human Being
R’ Elazar states that all agree, though, that on the holiday of Shavuos, we are obligated to eat and drink because it is the day on which the Torah was given. R’ Shimshon Nachmani, the renowned Zera Shimshon, notes that this conclusion seems paradoxical. We would think that the day commemorating the giving of the Torah would be dedicated solely to spirituality, to Torah study.
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