The Kabbalah of the Absurd
We all know madness well--we spend a third of our lives insane
View ArticleSchwartz, the Wicked Son
What gets me about Schwartz is that he ain't stupid. He has brains, but all he does with them is tickle his own brains. Schwartz' brain stands outside life peering in, like a surgeon examining a...
View ArticleIs It True That It's Forbidden to Cut Down a Fruit Tree?
A closer look at a 3,300 year-old environmental protecttion law
View ArticleA Matter of Ethics
G‑d inserted the reading of Mishpatim before going back in time to discuss key elements of the narrative of the giving of the Torah. His way of saying: "Before you can receive the Torah fully—study...
View ArticleIndividuality and the Divine Spark
If the core of my being is a "spark of G‑d," then where is the me in me? Is this idea that I have of myself as an "individual" a lie?
View ArticleWise of Heart
Why does Moses issue a call for the “wise of heart”? Is this not a contradiction in terms? After all, wisdom is in the mind, while emotions are in the heart!
View ArticleAn Emotional Wedding
Before the wedding reception, the groom approached me and sadly explained that I should not expect any form of cooperation from his father during the ceremony.
View ArticleIf Torah Is Divine Wisdom, Why Is It So Petty? - The Torah and Its Clothes
Torah, you say, is divine wisdom. So why is it full of animals' hooves and fish's scales, goring oxen and adulterous human beings?
View ArticleBeyond Heresy - The G‑d I Believe In
Thank G‑d for atheists. If not for their scorn, how shallow our god would be!
View ArticleCircle of Love
Sometimes love is not measured by a capacity to give, but rather by a capacity to receive...
View ArticleWhy Work for a Living?
If I sit back and wait for money to fall from heaven, that is not faith—that’s lack of faith.
View ArticleWhat Are Angels?
There are ten types: Chayot Hakodesh, Ophanim, Erelim, Chashmalim, Seraphim, Malachim, Elokim, Bene Elokim, Cheruvim, and Ishim--ranked according to the degree of their understanding of G‑d.
View ArticleLonging For My Beloved
We spend our days running around and juggling our responsibilities. How do we get from here to there? Can we turn on a dime -- shifting from the mundane to the [spiritually] monumental?
View ArticleTammuz—Time for Transformation
Without a doubt, we have experienced tremendous hardship and pain throughout our history—more so, perhaps, than other nations. But Jewish history is anything but tragic . . .
View ArticleWhen Do We Stop Believing?
She's only seven years old, and the doctors say she has lost her battle with cystic fibrosis, that she will live only a few more weeks. But for some reason, nobody has stopped praying...
View ArticleFacing Grief - Staying Functional and Faithful
Any loss, especially one involving the loss of love, independence, structure or identity, causes a temporary loss of balance—physically, emotionally and spiritually.
View ArticleTake It As It Comes - Shoftim
If we cannot give up our worries about the future, then our trust in Him is tenuous, conditional and half-hearted. What we are really telling G‑d is that our relationship with Him is conditional.
View ArticleGetting Beyond Our Comfort Zones
Judaism is forward thinking, eager to embrace innovation and fresh perspective. So why are we abandoning our homes and living in thatched huts, as we did 3400 years ago?
View ArticleThe Possible World - What Happens on Rosh Hashanah
Imagine Bugs Bunny walking in to a Warners Brothers corporate meeting. "Hi docs! I'm here to plead my case. I make children laugh, adults chuckle…" They: "But we're sitting here now deciding whether or...
View ArticleHow Do I Know What Is My Mission in Life? (I)
I've been told that each one of us has a specific, individual mission in life. How do I know what mine is?
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