Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s not hard to find wonderful sermons and drashim (Torah Lessons) emphasizing the urgent need to repair our relationships with others and with The Creator in preparation for the Yomim Noraim (Days of Awe, Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur).  The … Continue reading →

Elul, the month before Rosh HaShana, arrives and everyone talks of Tshuva, the concept of being able to fix things, to hit the “reset” button, to make a clean start on the upcoming New Year.  But when we get down … Continue reading →

These thoughts are inspired by a courageous article by Rabbi Aryeh Ben David of Ayeka as well as by the weekly Parsha, Sh’lach we read several weeks ago.  I strongly recommend reading this excellent article before continuing with my offering. *     *     … Continue reading →

When I first began maintaining the Tisha B’Av‘s restrictions, including the fast, for only a half-day, I caught a lot of flak.  When I “outed” myself as only keeping the half-day, the flak greatly increased (“How can you, a rabbi, lead … Continue reading →

A microcosm of the greater world, the Jewish people are polarized, shattered, filled with acrimony and anger.  Israel literally surrounded by enemies who seek its annihilation, we stubbornly insist on retaining our championship as our own worst enemies, while the … Continue reading →

I’ve never understood the body-building culture, unbalanced over-exercising only certain muscles (and often abusing steroids and other dangerous drugs) in order to achieve a look that most people would describe as freakish and muscle-bound.  It’s not just an aesthetic or … Continue reading →

I’ve always wondered about the catalog of sins, some I’ve committed, some I’m pretty sure I haven’t, that I recite on Yom Kippur as well as the smaller version                      ….אָשַׁמְנוּ, … Continue reading →

(There is an irony/synchronicity of the previous article posting just before the Shabbat we read Parshat Balak, as well as the Mussar Workshop itself occurring that day.) Not only are this Torah portions’s first words (BaMidbar 22:2), וַיַּרְא בָּלָק, VaYa’r Balak, And Balak … Continue reading →

(This is another of the series of Mussar workshops I assist with.) וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹת ה’ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְלֹא תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּם זֹנִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם (במדבר  טו:לט) And you shall look at them (tzitzit) and recall all … Continue reading →