Spiritual Growth Hormones
Last night I got one of "those" shopping carts. Finding it blocking the supermarket door, I figured this cart was somehow meant for me. As I prepared to push it down the aisle, though, my misfortune became clear: the wheels forcefully veered to the right. My shopping...
The Sabbath Festival
In this week's reading, the Torah talks about Shabbos, the Sabbath. In this case, however, it comes with an unusual introduction. "Speak to the Children of Israel, and say to them the festivals of G-d, which you shall declare, the Holy Convocation -- these are my...
Am I a Good Friend?
Many of us could write up a list of rules for how we'd like to be treated by our friends. Most don't have a physical list to hand out to people (although it might reduce some painful guesswork if we did), but this is how the list might look: Be sincere -- no acting....
Guarding Your Tongue
In this week's reading, we read about the punishment of tzara'as, which is often mistranslated as "leprosy" because it could appear as a white blemish on skin. it was a purely spiritual punishment, however, which only existed long before the current exile. Our Sages...
Thank You Note
I would like to share with you a true story, which I think has a message for us as we prepare for Passover. There was a young family; father, mother, and one very young daughter. The father was a salesman, whose job required him to travel around the country. The...
Everyone Makes Mistakes
Believe it or not, this week's message was not inspired by the fact that the Catholic Church has chosen a new Pope; it just offers a convenient contrast. As you probably know, there is, in their beliefs, a doctrine of papal infallibility. When the Pope teaches the...
