1310 essays
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Essays on the weekly Torah portion, the holidays and Jewish thought.
Parsha Devarim – What Are We Mourning? An anniversary of an event is when the event come to life again. An anniversary of a tragedy is when we focus on what we lost and endeavor to restore it with even greater vigor. Parsha Devarim – When Enough Is Not Enough! We fail when we embrace and institutionalize our G-d given limits. Nothing is sweeter to G-d’s “ears” than the music created by going beyond our “enough-ness” mindset. Parsha Devarim – Wrong Way Do Not Enter “A journey begins with but one step,” is a popular adage. Our path to total and immediate Redemption needs one small, even imperceptible, redirection Parsha Devarim – Years of Royalty Kings wage war. Some wars are external others are internal. A Jewish monarch must know which battles to choose and when he should fight them. Parsha Matos-Masei – Aaron’s Passing Ahavas Chinam is loving someone not because they are endowed with great spiritual, intellectual or physical talents. This love is not even engendered by another's positive behavior towards you. It is love that is based on the fact that the other person is G-d's creation. There does not have to be a Parsha Matos-Masei – A Journey Without an End When the Torah lists the 42 journeys from Egypt, they are all characterized as journeys from Mitzraim. Each and every journey that took then further away from the geographic region known as Mitzraim, they were simultaneously breaking out of yet another level and layer of confinement and spiritual st Parsha Matos-Masei – An Arm or a Leg We have two choices how to cope with the harsh nature of the earth that will determine the outcome of our struggle: The poorer choice is to wait until we are jolted into submission to normalcy. The ideal choice is for us to divorce ourselves from its harshness and negativity by equipping ourselves w Parsha Matos-Masei – Annul Your Vows When we realize that our true desire is to be close to G-d by observing His commandments, we free ourselves from the compulsion to compromise. The wish to compromise is often a result of not being in touch with our true desire. Being out of touch with that reality, we erroneously think we cannot acc Parsha Matos-Masei – Be There! No Jew can rest until all of his or her brothers in sisters anywhere in the world, particularly in Israel, are at peace. Moreover, we should realize that, insofar as our feelings are concerned, there is no “there” and “here.” We are all there spiritually and emotionally. Parsha Matos-Masei – Be Vindicated! In the present pre-Final Redemption era the virtues and flaws that are deeply embedded in our soul are surfacing. Some people whom we thought of as mediocre have achieved phenomenal success in their lives and, conversely, people whom we regarded as great have exhibited uncharacteristically negative Parsha Matos-Masei – Cities of Sensitivity Collectively, the Jewish people have been subjected to the paradoxical phenomenon of being hounded by the other nations who threaten to exterminate us, and being provided by G-d throughout history with places of refuge that have guaranteed our survival. This phenomenon is what our Sages referred to Parsha Matos-Masei – How Sacred Is Your Word? When a person feels incapable of dealing with temptation the Torah provided a vow. The vow is not just a psychological boost to buttress one’s inner strength and character. It actually generates greater G-dly energy helping the person to combat his weak nature. Parsha Matos-Masei – Innocent When Proven Guilty Every Jew possesses some measure of good. There are differences, as to the degree to which this good is covered up and concealed. When the judges find merit in a criminal, this is a sign that they have found his inner good and is therefore “capable” of receiving punishment that will prove beneficial Parsha Matos-Masei – Journeys There are many challenges along the way in our journeys. The first rule is that we must know our destination. Reaching the destination, the Messianic Age, is an integral part of Judaism. In the earlier stages of the journey, knowledge of its destination and objective was not so crucial; the focus wa Parsha Matos-Masei – Long Live the King Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk: The nation Moab was needed to give the Jewish people the concept of kingship. The entire concept of people empowered to exercise authority over others is foreign to the Jewish ethos. The idea of leadership had to be ‘borrowed’ from Moab. Parsha Matos-Masei – Murder! The Cities of Refuge afforded the person who had displayed callous disregard for another human life — when his or her negligence caused the untimely death of another — to reflect on his or her crime and to be rehabilitated. Parsha Matos-Masei – Paradox of Judaism: Rigidity and Flexibility When it comes to exercising leadership, one must have rigid standards. One cannot bend because the people are asking for changes. One cannot follow the way the wind is blowing to determine what standards to establish for society. The same can be said for one’s internal “government” and leadership ro Parsha Matos-Masei – Peaceful Zealotry, or a Zealous Peace? A time will come when Pinchas will shed his zealous— albeit, for the sake of peace—veneer, and assume the role of the peacemaker Elijah, and will usher in the ultimate age of unmitigated peace and goodness—the Messianic Age. Parsha Matos-Masei – Perpetual War Even when we resoundingly defeat our internal enemy, we must be poised to fight yet another battle with evil. The battle against one’s internal evil is continuous. In the Messianic Age it will be the struggle to climb to greater heights. Parsha Matos-Masei – Provisions for the Journey In our generation it is the Lubavitcher Rebbe who has led and continues to lead the Jewish people in the effort to hasten the Redemption. This, we can do, the Rebbe taught, by increasing in all matters of goodness and kindness. Every good thought, word or deed, can be the proverbial gesture that wil