by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Oct 10, 2024 | Lifeline
A few days ago, someone wished me a happy holiday. Given that the upcoming holiday is Yom Kippur, the somber, serious, even frightening Day of Atonement, my first, unshared thought was that that wasn’t really the appropriate greeting for the occasion. But I thought...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Sep 27, 2024 | Lifeline
When I was in college, there was a woman I knew who was Jewish, but who never participated in Jewish activities. She told me at one point that on Yom Kippur, her father would go into his study, close the door, and read, or whatever else it might be that he did. He...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Sep 20, 2024 | Lifeline
“In compensation for your failure to [lit. that you did not] serve HaShem your G-d with joy and with happiness of heart, from an abundance of all.” [Deut. 28:47] There are terrible calamities prophesied in this week’s reading. The Torah tells us why these...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Sep 6, 2024 | Lifeline
One of the most cited phrases in the Torah is found in the first sentences of this week’s reading: “justice, justice shall you pursue” [Deut. 16:20]. But this is not, despite what you may have read elsewhere, a license for each individual to elevate his or her own...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Aug 23, 2024 | Lifeline
In this week’s reading, we find the second, longest paragraph of the Shema [Deut. 11:13-21], the daily reading in which Jews commit to follow G-d and His Commandments. The first section, with Shema itself [6:5-9], was part of our reading last week. The Mishnah...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jul 18, 2024 | Lifeline
The Medrash tells us that Bilaam was a prophet, that Hashem, G-d, spoke with him. No one, however, came closer to Hashem thanks to hearing Bilaam’s prophecy. All the Jewish prophets, and of course Moshe himself, caused people to turn to Hashem, but Bilaam was an utter...
