Partners in Crime

It surprised me to learn that most, if not all, things that bother me about others are those deficiencies which I bear an element of, myself. When people arrive late for appointments, for example, it really gets to me sometimes… and it’s not as if I have...

Why is the Passover Seder so popular?

This coming Monday evening, we will begin to celebrate Passover. The Passover Seder is one of the most frequently celebrated practices on the Jewish calendar — even among those minimally involved with Judaism the rest of the year. That is one of the reasons we...

He’s More Than His Defect

The Torah speaks of a Divine affliction called Tzara’as, a visible blemish on a person’s skin, clothing, or walls of their home that creates intense spiritual impurity upon the carrier. There are many complex laws listed in this week and last week’s...

Coming in Last

This week’s reading, Tazria, discusses various spiritual impurities related to a person. The end of last week’s reading concerned which animals are pure (to eat) and which are not, and, says Rebbe Simlai in the Talmud, this is no coincidence: “Just...

Pigs or Camels?

For an animal to be Kosher it must chew its cud and have split hooves. The Camel is deemed non-Kosher because it only chews its cud; likewise, the pig because it only has split hooves. Rabbi Shimshon Pincus zt”l explains the symbolism: people often act in a way that...