by Mordechai Dixler | Nov 5, 2020 | Lifeline
The city of Sodom and the surrounding region were notorious for their cruel practices and laws. But before G-d brought destruction upon them, He first informed Abraham. “It’s improper to do this without him knowing,” He said, “I gave him this...
by Mordechai Dixler | Oct 22, 2020 | Lifeline
Saved from the Great Flood (the Mabul), Noah was moved to give thanks to G-d for sparing him and his family. Immediately upon leaving the Ark, he built an altar and brought offerings upon it. G-d was pleased with this, as it says, “And G-d smelled the pleasant...
by Mordechai Dixler | Oct 15, 2020 | Lifeline
Rabbi Zeira, the Talmud writes, had the following custom: when he was owed an apology by someone, he would go out to where they were, proceed past them, and then return (Yoma 87a). By walking past them, back and forth, he hoped to jog their memory of the incident, and...
by Mordechai Dixler | Sep 24, 2020 | Lifeline
Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, which is in just a few days, is the culmination of the Ten Days of Repentance that began with Rosh Hashanah. A significant portion of the lengthy prayers of Yom Kippur is devoted to Viduy — confession of misdeeds, which includes a...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Sep 17, 2020 | Lifeline
The verse says in Psalms [89:16], “Happy is the nation that knows the Teruah, the sound of the Shofar.” Rav Tzvi E. Hertzberg zt”l asks, “why is it such a great thing to know the sound of a Shofar — and how does blowing a Shofar make G-d less...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Sep 10, 2020 | Lifeline
An elderly man checked in to a small, quaint hotel, only to learn at the front desk that the single elevator was out of order. He asked a bellhop to bring his bags up to his room, implying that the tip would be worth the effort. It was ten minutes later before the...
