All in the Family
Celebrating Purim, the rabbis tell us, entails four things: hearing the reading of the Megillah (the Scroll of Esther), having a festive meal, giving gifts to the poor, and sending food packages to friends. Those are the four commandments of the day. The first two...
Colors of Joy
The new Jewish month of Adar began yesterday, ushering in the joyous holidays of Purim and Passover. In this spirit the Sages of the Talmud have said "When Adar arrives, we increase in happiness." We don't think of happiness, true happiness, as something to be...
Let It Go Through You
In this week's reading, Moshe and the Jewish nation gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. Judaism teaches us that along with the Written Torah printed in every Bible, God also taught Moshe the Oral Law, giving much more detail about the...
Keep Singing
"I sing to G-d, for He is exalted..." (Exodus 15:1) After Moshe (Moses) and the Jewish People saw the great miracle of the splitting of the sea, their salvation from the oncoming chariots of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, and the total destruction of that army, they...
Who Is Fit to Serve?
Through the ten plagues and the Exodus, G-d demonstrated that He and He alone is the complete authority, the King of kings. If it is a privilege to serve in the cabinet of a world leader, then how much greater is it to be a servant to the Al-mighty? Pondering this...
Let’s Talk About Retirement
What do you hope to be doing when you're eighty years old? In last week's Torah reading, the story of the enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt and their ultimate redemption began. The key figures in this story are Moshe and Aharon (Moses and Aaron), who were...
Do You Love Your Luggage?
What do you find more restful - relaxing on a couch, or carrying packages? It seems like a silly question, right? "He saw that rest was good, that the land was pleasant, and he tilted his shoulder to take a burden. (Gen. 49:15)" This is how Jacob, on his deathbed,...
Spirited Celebration
Joseph's tears flowed as he wept on his father Jacob's shoulder. It had been 22 years from the time Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers, only to learn that he had been tragically devoured by a wild desert beast. Jacob was inconsolable for 22 years, but his...
The Angels Are In the Details
When lighting the Menorah on Chanukah, we are instructed to light one light the first night, adding one light (to the left of the first) each night until lighting eight on the final night of the holiday. This is one of the famous arguments of the House of Hillel and...
Hope Against Hope
Yaakov's sons saw their brother Yosef as a threat, and devised a plot to kill him. The oldest brother, Reuven, seeing that his brother Yosef was about to be killed, quickly came up with a plan. Reuven said, "Do not spill his blood. Throw him into this pit in the...
Is it Plugged in, Sir?
A tale told by technical support engineers goes as follows: Larry was happily browsing online when his new computer suddenly went blank. He pressed the power button on and off multiple times, but that didn't help. Knocking the monitor, banging on the keyboard, and...
Penniless Donors
Jacob, fleeing from the threat of his brother Esau, was alone in the desert, homeless and penniless. That night he slept on the desert floor, and when he awoke he prayed to G-d for safety and his basic necessities. His simple prayer ended with the pledge "All that you...
