Category Archives: Uncategorized

Although it’s too late for this year’s seder(s), I want to share an observation that Rabbi Twerski zt”l (Malchut Shlomo, p.17) made about Seder.  He points out that we should go into the seder without any specific expectations.  Rather we should … Continue reading →

As Pesach arrives this evening, I’ve experienced a feeling over the last two weeks of more and more of what I usually think essential being systematically stripped away.  With the beginning of the month of Nissan we shed our twice-daily recitation … Continue reading →

Acknowledging that this is a work in progress since my thoughts are always evolving, I want to remind everyone that this is really a snapshot rather than eternal truth.  Also, I apologize before the fact that this article is more … Continue reading →

This is another of the series of Mussar workshops I assist with.  It’s especially timely as we look forward to Pesach.  We transform our allegiance from a limited human, Pharaoh, to the Infinite God, lifting our upper limit from the … Continue reading →

I often wonder what’s the attraction of a worldview that excludes God.  The only thing I can think of is that it enable the opposite worldview, one that is entirely anthrocentric.  The need to take center-stage, to literally coronate oneself, … Continue reading →

Now that Purim has passed, I wonder what lessons we will take forward this time around.  One insidious trap in Jewish practice is to merely repeat, year-to-year, exactly what we did, said and (supposedly) learned each previous year.  While continuity … Continue reading →

Perhaps it’s so obvious that it almost disappears, but it strikes me in this year’s reading, more than any other message, is the simple reality of an entire people pooling their efforts and resources to honor the Transcendant  God.  The … Continue reading →

Yale Law Professor Amy Chua created quite a stir a couple years ago with her book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”, advocating parents’ high expectations for their children.  Much of the contemporary media rose up to attack her since … Continue reading →

The parsha, Torah portion, we read this past week, Mishpatim, presents the basis for a civil society based on law. Interestingly, the word, משפט, mishpat, also means a sentence, a group of words which work together to communicate a specific … Continue reading →