by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Oct 25, 2013 | Lifeline
In this week’s Torah reading, Avraham sends Eliezer back to his family in Haran, to find a wife for his son Yitzchak. Eliezer prayed, describing the person he was looking for very simply: when I ask her to bring down her pitcher for me to drink, she will respond...
by Mordechai Dixler | Oct 18, 2013 | Lifeline
When three desert travelers are invited into Abraham’s tent to join him for a meal, Abraham and Sarah treat them to a lavish feast. Butter and milk were laid out and meat, freshly slaughtered, was offered for these complete strangers. The Talmud even says a...
by Mordechai Dixler | Oct 11, 2013 | Lifeline
There are times, sometimes just moments, when we feel inspired and close to the Al-mighty. Maybe we’re in the presence of a special person, in the final moments of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, or we witnessed the birth of a new baby. Those spiritual...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Oct 4, 2013 | Lifeline
What is the lesson of the Great Flood? We read this week that the world became so corrupt and evil that the only way forward was to start over. G-d sent the flood because “the earth had corrupted itself before G-d, and the earth was filled with violence.”...
by Mordechai Dixler | Sep 12, 2013 | Lifeline
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is devoted to Teshuva, the process of returning to G-d. A special and repeated part of the Yom Kippur liturgy is the recitation of the Viduy prayer, admitting to and delineating our faults. “Ashamnu, we were guilty, Bagadnu, we...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Aug 30, 2013 | Lifeline
This week, we read about a Commandment to bring the entire nation of Israel together to hear the Torah. “Gather the nation together, the men, the women, the children, and the stranger who is within your gates…” [31:12] Rabbi Elazar Ben Azaryah asks,...
