by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jun 3, 2011 | Lifeline, What's happening
On Tuesday night, we will revisit the time when the entire nation heard the Voice of G-d, on the holiday of Shavuos. Our Sages teach that the Jewish holidays are not merely commemoration of past events, but a time on the calendar when the same spiritual energies come...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | May 20, 2011 | Lifeline
"Hey, I sent you an e-mail about the proposal two hours ago. Have you had a chance to review it?" In today’s world, people expect instant results, and that means doing things without thought or consideration. But as they say, "haste makes...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | May 6, 2011 | Lifeline
Our Torah portion this week contains what, at first reading, could seem to be a draconian or even primitive decree: "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" [Leviticus 24:20]. Yet nowhere in Jewish tradition is this understood according to how it might be read without...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Aug 13, 2010 | Lifeline
In this week’s Torah reading, Parshas Shoftim in Deuteronomy, Israel is commanded to have judges and officers, those who maintain both justice and order. A judge in particular is required to be entirely unbiased, and not to accept ‘Shochad’, usually...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Oct 30, 2009 | Lifeline
There is a very interesting Medrash connected to this week’s reading. The Medrash tells us that after Avraham circumcised himself, many people came to convert and join the Jewish People. The Bais HaLevi, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l of Brisk, asks:...
