by Mordechai Dixler | Aug 8, 2013 | Lifeline
The sound of the Shofar can already be heard every morning in synagogues around the world. The Jewish month of Elul began this past Wednesday, a month of preparation for the holiest season of the year, the Yomim Noraim, the Days of Awe. Besides the sounding of the...
by Mordechai Dixler | Jul 26, 2013 | Lifeline
Judaism gives us many opportunities to acknowledge the gifts the Al-mighty has given us. This is done primarily by reciting short prayers — blessings — throughout the day. We say on Sabbath mornings that “if our mouths were filled with song like the...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jul 19, 2013 | Lifeline
This week is called “Shabbos Nachamu,” the Sabbath of Consolation, as “Nachamu” is the first word (and second, as G-d tells His prophets to “console, console My nation”) of the Haftorah. It is a prophecy that Jerusalem will one day...
by Mordechai Dixler | Jul 3, 2013 | Lifeline
Would you trust a child with matches? When my daughter was two years old, our apartment building had an electrical fire that ultimately destroyed the two apartments above us. After we evacuated, my wife and I sat with our children on a nearby hill, along with most of...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jun 28, 2013 | Lifeline
The story of Pinchas is one of the most striking in the Torah, because of its apparent contradiction. Pinchas literally killed two people, one of whom was one of their leaders (Zimri, head of the tribe of Shimon). And how does G-d react? “Behold, I give him my...
by Mordechai Dixler | Jun 13, 2013 | Lifeline
In response to the ungrateful cries and complaints of the Jewish people, G-d sent a plague of poisonous snakes. Moses put the form of a copper snake on a pole and raised it up high, and as people would gaze at the snake they would be healed. The Mishna (Rosh Hashana...
