Until 2003, when I learned that I have Celiac Disease, my favorite food was bread. Whether I was sitting in a restaurant, at a wedding, or a Shabbat table, my eyes were on the bread. I had no choice and in order to live I...
It is 1AM and I am too excited to sleep. I just finished teaching a Talmud class on the complex laws of interest and profit. I readily acknowledge that I may be a strange person, but not because I am excited about a complicated Talmudic...
The essence of Parashat Bechukotay is not "If you follow My laws" (Leviticus 26:3) but rather "But if you do not obey Me" (26:14). The most important part of the parashah is the
Most authorities agree that the defining quality of Melacha, the work that is prohibited on Shabbat, is creativity, an action similar to the creation of the world that ceased on Shabbat.
According to the Talmud, a person who does not show respect for his parents is not forced by the courts to do so, since they "are not required to enforce any mitzva whose reward is explicitly written
The 6th of Iyar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yosef Meir Weiss, Admor of Spinka, disciple of Rav Yitzchak Eizik of Ziditchov and of Rav Chaim of Sanz, author of Imrei Yosef (1838-1909)
I wish that I could have walked behind Elijah and Elisha as they headed to where Elijah would rise up to heaven in a storm. I can’t even imagine what the two giants, Rebbi and student, were discussing as they walked. I wish I could have...
The 30th of Nissan is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Nesanel Weill, Av Beis Din of Karlsruhe and author of Korban Nesanel (1769). On October 17, 1750, he was elected to be Oberland- rabbiner for both Markgrafschaften of Baden-Durlach
She (Rebecca) escorted him (Jacob) as far as [Isaac’s] door and said, “I have done all I can for you. Henceforth, your Creator will stand by you” (Bereishit Rabbah 65:17). When the patriarch Jacob entered his father’s [room], the Garden of Eden entered with him [for the smell of his garment was that of the Garden of
The 2nd of Iyar is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Moshe Zakan Mazuz of Djerba (1851-1915). He learned under Rav Chaim HaKohen, author of Lev Shomea. He was appointed Rav of Charah Zagira in 1905 and became Rav and
I am sitting on a plane on my way to visit a very good friend, one of those rare people who qualify as a good friend. We call each other and we email, but I actually need to spend time with him. I met him...
“My child: If you accept My words and treasure My commandments with yourself.” (Proverbs 2:1) The Gra focuses one the differences between “My words,” and “My commandments.” Why do “My words” call for acceptance, while
The 28th of Nissan is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Yissochor Dov (ben Shaul) Rubin, author of Tallelei Oros (1962-2008). After learning at Yeshiva L’tze’irim Ruzhin in Bnei Brak, he joined the Ponevezh Yeshiva and later