Give it a Rest
Many people labor under the misimpression that the traditional Jewish Sabbath, (Shabbos or Shabbat, depending upon whose pronunciation you use) is a limiting experience. You can't go places, you can't do things, you can't even pick up the telephone and call a friend....
Watch Your Speed Limit
We've come to expect instant results. Perhaps the speed of today's latest "on demand" technology or the abundance of resources in our global community have trained us to feel this way, but it's become natural to assume that most problems will be solved within 24 hours...
Challenging Authority “for its own sake”
This week's reading describes the miracle of the Mahn (Manna), the miraculous bread which G-d gave to our ancestors to eat in the desert. The people said they were hungry, they complained, and they were given an open miracle in return -- along with instructions. They...
Budding Minds
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....
The Choices We Make
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 Egypt" [7:3], He was...
Run With It!
"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? While Moses was grazing...
Brother, Can you Share a Smile?
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 to a friend is even greater...
How Embarassing!
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 swore to protect from...
Trust in G-d, not Man
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 only in...
A Spoonful of Sugar
Many of us certainly remember the bitter taste of medicine. Before artificial sweeteners and capsules, taking medicine was, well... a hard pill to swallow. Let's put ourselves in Joseph's shoes on his trip down to Egypt. After having lost his mother Rachel as a...
Balanced Trust
As our forefather Yaakov (Jacob) prepared to encounter his brother Esav again after 34 years, he did three things: sent presents, readied for war, and prayed. He balanced his prayers and trust in G-d with appropriate "worldly" efforts. He neither trusted in his own...
100% Pure …Pure What?
In our time, we've become accustomed to deceptive promises. The savvy consumer is advised to read advertisements between the lines, not to make the impulse decisions salespeople would have us make. Laws protect the consumer from blatantly false claims, but companies...
