“When I recall (Zacharti) this matter I am confounded, trembling grips my flesh.” (Job 21:6) The Daat Soferim explains that Job consciously chose to forget his question “why do the wicked live” in order to be able to function. We often do as Job and choose to...
“The moon will be humiliated and the sun will be shamed for God, Master of Legions, will have reigned in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and there will be honor for His elders.” (Isaiah 24:23) Rabbi Chaim David Vialli, a student of Rabbeinu Moshe Chaim Luzzatto,...
“By His breath the heavens were spread – ‘shifra’ – His hand fashioned the earth-girding serpent.” (Job 26:13) Shifra – spread – shares the same root as Shofar. The Malbim believes that “Shifra” means more than to expand: “As the waters spread they purify the...
“God is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear.” (Psalm 27:1) The Midrash (See Psalm 27.2 and 27.3) continues: The rabbis maintained that God set aside the light for the righteous in the World-To-Come, like a king who has a good portion and says:...
He had faced all sorts of battles in his life, but never one such as this: Some people spread terrible lies about him, seriously damaging his reputation and carreer. Many friends and supporters came to assure him that they refused to believe the false stories...
“Who sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us...
“Rabbi,” said the caller, “please let me know if you see a nest with a mother birds and her young birds or eggs. My wife wants more children and we were told by a Kabbalist to fulfill the Mitzvah of Sending The Mother Bird From...
I was a Shabbat lunch guest of Rabbi Sol Berman. A group of us were climbing the stairs to his apartment, and Rabbi Berman stopped at each floor to talk and share a thought on the Parsha. I was wondering why he stopped so often,...
Sherwin Nuland, one of my favorite authors, was born Shepsel Nudelman. Everything about his father, Meyer, was a source of searing embarrassment to the son. Indeed, Nuland is unsparing in relating his youthful cruelties to his father. In 1947, while in medical school, he discovered...
Said the little boy to the little girl, “Pray, give me just one kiss.” The girl was so surprised, “You’re a stranger, sir,” said she. “I will give you just one kiss When apples grow on the lilac tree.” The boy felt very sad at heart, She was the only one; The girl...
“He recalled (Zachar) His kindness and His faithfulness to the House of Israel; all ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our Lord.” (Psalm 98:3) Should you ask, that if God’s power was so great, why did He instruct Israel to borrow silver and...
“I am sending to take Nebuchadnezar king of Babylonia, My servant, and I am placing his throne above these stones that I have covered, and he will spread his tent – Shafriro – over them.” (Jeremiah 43:10) We have learned how “Shifra” means “to spread”...
When I entered the park on Sunday, I stepped into Central America. Today, I stepped right into a painting. I looked up as I entered the park and realized that I was observing an art masterpiece. The lines of trees rose as mountain peaks, each one...
If a homicide victim should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who killed him, your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in...
I recently had a talk with a different sort of doctor. As he described his frustration dealing with other doctors and insurance companies he spoke of how he deal with patients: “I always call my patients a day or two after I see them to...
