Our reading begins, "And these are the judgments..." [Ex. 21:1] The laws in the Torah described as "judgments" are civil laws, which every society must have in order to avoid anarchy. Yet the Torah emphasizes that its civil laws are of Divine origin, like the laws...

What happens when you hear something that truly inspires you? What do you "take home" afterwards? I once heard that there are three possible reactions people might have. Some will simply shrug it off, thinking, "it really wasn't important to me, and won't affect me...

Rabbi Sholom Schwadron ztl, the famed Magid (storyteller and inspirational speaker) of Jerusalem, would tell the story of an Israeli soldier who was terribly anxious and fearful in the middle of a heavy battle. Bullets and explosives were landing all around him, and...

Moshe (Moses) came to the Jewish people to tell them their exile would soon be coming to an end. Yet what was their response? "They did not listen to Moshe, because of their shortened spirit and hard work" [Ex. 6:9]. G-d then tells Moshe to go to Pharaoh, to tell him...

Our ability to see is the strongest of our senses. What we see penetrates our inner conscience, and can guide us towards right or wrong. Visual media is so attractive and popular because it touches the core, the soul, of the human being. When advertisers want to drive...

What makes you cry? Some cry at weddings and other happy moments. Others, in times of deep sadness and loss. When Yosef (Joseph) overheard his brothers express regret for selling him as a slave, he cried. When they brought his brother Binyamin down to Egypt to see...

What is Chanukah? On National Public Radio this week, a reporter posed this basic question to a young father attending a Chanukah party with his wife and two-year-old son. He responded, “You eat fried food. You have some doughnuts. You light some candles. You sing...

Jacob and his family were traveling to meet Esau and return to the Land of Israel. Jacob had his family and flocks cross the Yabok river before him, leaving Jacob himself alone on the other side. At that moment, a man — whom the Midrash says was Esau's personal...

Upon the birth of her fourth child, Jacob’s wife Leah proclaimed, “This time I thank G-d - Odeh es Hashem.” She gave her son a name derived from "Odeh," thanks: Yehudah, or Judah. The Sages of the Talmud comment that this is the first time in Biblical history...

The Torah spends a great deal of time discussing the life of our forefather Avraham, and that of Yaakov. By comparison, Yitzchak receives relatively short shrift. The offering of Yitzchak as a Korban, a sacrifice, is primarily told as a test of his father. It is...

Readers know that I have written about anti-Semitism for a long time. Our hearts reel at its manifestation in a Pittsburgh synagogue last Shabbos morning. The Medrash says that Sarah passed away when she believed that her son Yitzchak had indeed died at HaShem's...

The Sages of the Talmud say that there were 10 times that Abraham's faith in G-d was tested, and he succeeded each time. The final test was to follow the command to slaughter his son Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice. Although Isaac was the child for whom he and his...