Lep’er n. One suffering from leprosy; outcast. (Webster’s Dictionary) Webster has it right. Indeed, as the Torah tells us, a leper is both one who is suffering from leprosy and an outcast. Unique among …
Parshas Tazria/Metzorah – Sensitivity for the Suffering Sinner Read More »
Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.” Rarely is a slogan so well known, yet so profoundly untrue. As recent tragic cases of bullying …
What is the most difficult mitzvah in the Torah? Fasting on Yom Kippur? No Oreos for eight days on Passover? No texting for 25 hours on Shabbos? Surprisingly, some commentaries say that …
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz recently penned an open “letter to Hashem (G-d)”, asking why we pray for a third Temple that will include animal sacrifice. I will be bold enough to assume …
“What should a person do to live? He should kill himself! And what should a person do to die? He should enliven himself!” This enigmatic Talmudic passage begs for interpretation. …
“Hey, wassup? How ya doin’? How’s life?” “Nothing major, you know, same old stuff, different day. Can’t wait until summer so I can get away for a few days.” …
A fancy house… A cool car… Carnal pleasures… An exciting vacation… Designer clothes… The best doctors and hospitals… Power…. Information… Being popular… Admit it – these are all things you …
There is nothing more “treif” (non-kosher) than a pig. Pig has always represented the prototype of impurity, the quintessential “treif” (non-kosher) item. In Hebrew, the very word for pig has become a common …
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. (“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, mounted on the Statue of Liberty). We all yearn to breathe …