Vegetarianism & Judaism
The Jewish Vegetarians of North America once published a “Top 10 Reasons for Being a Kosher Vegetarian.” First on the list: “Two words – buttered challah!” I welcomed this moment of levity about an issue that often generates a tremendous amount of passion on both sides of the table. When the plates are cleared, though, […]
Reciprocal emotions
“Flee to Lavan, my brother in Charan. Stay with him for a while until your brother’s anger subsides. Until the anger of your brother subsides from you…” (Genesis 27:43-45). Rabbi Abraham Twerski explains that these verses are not redundant. How was Jacob to know when his brother’s anger subsided? Proverbs 27:19 states that “Like one’s […]
Hacking the Haftorah: TOLDOS
This series explores the connection between the weekly Torah portion read in synagogues (Parashat HaShavuah) and the Haftorah reading that follows from the writings of the prophets. The Five Books of Moses are read publicly in synagogues on Shabbat morning and completed over the course of a year. There is an ancient custom to follow […]
Longing
A chassid lived alone in the forest in order to chop wood for his livelihood. He came to his rebbe to complain that because of this, he could never pray with the minyan (community) in a synagogue. He cried to his rebbe about how much he really wanted to be able to pray with a […]
Unconditional love
“Isaac loved Esav because he ate his game; but Rebecca loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:28) The actual Hebrew of this verse reads that Rebecca “loves” Jacob, in the present tense. According to Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horowitz, we can understand this verse according to a teaching of our sages in Chapters of the Fathers (5:16). “Any love […]
Understanding the Hebrew months: KISLEV
The commandment to proclaim the New Moon was the first commandment given to the entire Jewish nation. In Exodus 12, God says: This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months – it shall be the first of the months of the year for you” When Israel was enslaved in Egypt, they were […]
The sigh
The town shoemaker would often be in a quandry about when to pray in the morning. Many of his customers were poor men who only owned one pair of shoes. He would work on repairing them all through the night in order to deliver them before their owners had to go to work in the […]
Becoming desensitized
“And they (the two Hittite women that Esav married) were a source of bitterness to Isaac and to Rebecca.” (Genesis 26:35) The Midrash notes that the source of aggravation was because these women were idol worshipers. The Midrash also picks up on an interesting detail in the verse. It doesn’t say they were a source […]
You never know…
“Abraham rose up from the presence of his dead” (his wife Sarah) Genesis 23:3. The Radomsker Rebbe understood this passage according to a teaching by Rabbi Eliezer cited in Pirkei Avot 2. Rabbi Eliezer would always say we should do Teshuvah (repent and return to G-d) one day before we die. His students were puzzled […]
A test of character
“Let it be that the girl…will say: Drink, and I will also water your camels, will be the one who You have determined for your servant Isaac…” (Genesis 24:14). Abraham’s home was built on kindness and caring for others, so his servant sought this quality when seeking to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. […]