Eli Manning and the Super Bowl champion Giants seem like a distant memory. Just a couple of weeks ago they were the toast of the town, paraded down the legendary “canyon of heroes” in a ticker tape parade. Just when many thought that there would be nothing left to cheer for until opening day of […]
Since this week’s Torah portion, Shemos, literally means “names”, I’d like to examine the significance of the name of one of the Bible’s most famous personalities: Moses. The Midrash (Vayikra Rabah 1:3) teaches that Moses actually had ten names – Moshe, Yered, Chaver, Yekutiel, Avigdor, Avi Socho, Avi Zanuach, Tuviah, Shemayah, and Halevi. Yet, throughout […]
Imagine that you’re a real estate agent trying to sell a hot property to a potential client. After showing them around the property, you proceed to rattle off a long list of features, including the fact that while all of the surrounding properties have their own well system and built-in water supply, this property requires […]
This week’s Torah portion, Chukas, features the law of the red heifer, which is considered the quintessential illogical law in the Torah. The ashes of the red heifer were used to purify one who was ritually impure, yet these very same ashes would defile one who started off in a state of ritual purity. Although […]
If you’re like me, in the days leading up to Hurricane Sandy you didn’t take all of those ominous-sounding warnings too seriously. Just out of curiosity, I went to my local supermarket where I saw people stocking up on bottled water and non-perishable items like they were going out of style. I really couldn’t understand […]
