Saturday night begins the holiday of Shavuos, the day when we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai. There is a common custom, observed in many Jewish communities, to spend all of Shavuos night awake, studying Torah, preparing to receive it in the morning. This custom...

The majority of this week's reading is devoted to G-d's warning of severe curses that will come upon the Jewish nation, if it acts with disregard for the laws of the Torah. As these curses come from a loving G-d, they stem from a place of love, and are a warning...

Last November, the doors of an armored truck popped open as it was traveling on a San Diego freeway, dumping bags of cash onto the road. Traffic came to a halt as eager drivers abandoned their cars to scoop up the "free" money. Many handed in their windfalls as...

In this week's reading, we learn a Mitzvah pertaining to the current time period on the Jewish calendar: the Counting of the Omer. After bringing a special offering of an Omer (sheaf) of grain on the second day of the Passover holiday, the Torah commands, "And you...

An old Jewish man was shipwrecked on a desert island, and rescued after many long years. His rescuers were surprised he was able to survive all alone for that long. "How did you manage?" they asked. "I lived on fish and berries", he explained, "and of course I always...

What does it mean to live life to its fullest? Do you imagine reading a storybook with your (grand)children, vacationing on the Mediterranean, or sky diving? It obviously depends upon whom you ask, but these answers share one thing in common - the freedom to choose....