by Mordechai Dixler | Jan 26, 2012 | Lifeline
What better time to ponder the spring season than the end of January! As I softly cup my hands around a steaming cup of hot chocolate, I can picture the red budding leaves forming on dormant tree limbs, and the fresh, green daffodil foliage peeking through the soil....
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jan 20, 2012 | Lifeline
After the impact of six plagues, Pharoah had no choice. He would have had to give up. The commentaries (Ramban and Seforno) say that when G-d told Moshe that “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will increase my signs in my wonders in the land of...
by Mordechai Dixler | Jan 12, 2012 | Lifeline
“Now I’m motivated. I’m going to make this happen.” Those are the sweet words that kick-off the path to progress. As human beings we have aspirations to grow, to build, to make a mark. What sparks the transition from stagnation to production?...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Jan 6, 2012 | Lifeline
The blessing Jacob gives Judah concludes with the words: “his eyes will redden from wine, and his teeth white from milk.” Rabbi Yochanan says homiletically (Kesubos 111b) that you can read it as “teeth whiter than milk” — to give a smile...
by Mordechai Dixler | Dec 29, 2011 | Lifeline
The sons of Jacob find themselves before Egypt’s second in command, unaware that it’s really their brother Joseph. Falsely accused of espionage and of stealing from the royal palace, about to lose their father’s beloved son Benjamin — whom they...
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken | Dec 23, 2011 | Lifeline
We read this week that two years after Pharoah’s wine steward and chief baker had their dreams, Pharoah had one of his own, and as a result, they rushed Joseph from jail. Obviously Pharoah needed Joseph, but the Torah tells us something deeper: that Joseph was...
