by Mordechai Dixler | Jul 26, 2012 | Lifeline
This year the ninth day of the month of Av (Tisha B’av), the day the Holy Temple in Jerusalem began to burn, falls on the Sabbath. This is a rare occurrence on the Jewish calendar and comes with a unique set of laws and observances, as the fast and traditional...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jul 13, 2012 | Lifeline
In this week’s reading, G-d explains to Moshe how his successors will be chosen. Hashem Himself will choose the leader, “who will go out in front of them, and who will come in before them, and they will go out and come in, and the congregation of G-d will...
by Mordechai Dixler | Jul 5, 2012 | Lifeline
A guest who had traveled from afar once visited the saintly Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan zt”l, and was taken aback by the Rabbi’s simple living conditions. The home was lacking the most basic furnishings! When he relayed his surprise, the...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jun 29, 2012 | Lifeline
In the Torah portion this week, we read “This is the Torah: when a person dies in a tent…” [Numbers 19:14] The language is somewhat unusual, because although “Torah” simply means law or instruction, you would expect it to say “this...
by Mordechai Dixler | Jun 21, 2012 | Lifeline
In the story of Korach’s rebellion (Numbers 16-17), 250 men join the campaign against Moses. While Korach and his partners Dathan and Abiram are punished with the earth miraculously swallowing them alive, the 250 men meet a different, more honorable fate. While...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jun 15, 2012 | Lifeline
This week, we read about the spies sent to look at the Land of Cana’an, who came back with a bad report — the land is filled with giants, they said, and even if we were to somehow beat them, the land consumes its inhabitants! Only two of the spies came...
