The ‘do it yourself’ attitude has earned a prominent place in our society. Besides the potential financial savings involved, people enjoy the fulfillment of tackling a project themselves and seeing what they can do on their own. They enjoy the camaraderie of the family undertaking the project together, pooling their common talents toward a united […]
Over the past few years I’ve had the privilege to give bar mitzvah lessons to the boys in our Hebrew school. So as not to discourage the boys from wanting to read from the Torah, I usually don’t show them how the words are going to appear in the Torah scroll until after a few […]
So you walk into a new local kosher food establishment, and taped to the wall behind the counter is a whole collection of dollar bills. You’ve seen this dozens of times, in all types of stores, wherever you go. What is this ubiquitous custom all about? Wouldn’t the dollars be contributing in a more meaningful […]
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 […]
In our fast paced 24/7 world, we are constantly faced with the issue of job security. A job that may look safe today may be gone tomorrow. I can remember a time not too long ago when computer programming was considered a lucrative field to enter; six months later the word got out to stay […]
A few weeks ago, I was standing in line at a pizza shop when I was witness to a most horrific incident of public humiliation. An elderly gentlemen ordered a slice of vegetable pizza. He was followed by a young woman who ordered a similar slice which was of the whole wheat variety. When the […]
The Key To Jewish Survival This week’s Torah portion, Haazinu, provides a prophetic snapshot of our nation’s long history. It speaks of G-d’s eternal love for His nation. The Torah speaks glowingly of how the Jews followed G-d in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt, trusting that He would provide for their needs. He […]
In this week’s Torah portion, Vayelech, Moshe once again, exhorts the Jewish People before he dies, to adhere to the Torah’s commandments. Moshe introduces the final two commandments of the Torah: each person should write his own Torah scroll, and Hakhel. The Hakhel ceremony takes place every seven years, in the year following Shemitta. All […]
Parshas Vayelech opens with Moshe walking through the Jewish camp on the last day of his life, bidding farewell to his beloved people. He teaches them the mitzvah of hakhel (the entire nation gathering once in seven years to hear the king read the book of Deuteronomy). G-d then addresses Moshe and Joshua (who will […]