A year ago, 17 families’ worlds and lives were turned upside down, as were the lives of countless relatives, friends and communities with the horrific shooting in Parkland, FL.
A …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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2/13/19
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In one of the opening statements of his essay “The Lonely Man of Faith,” Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik writes, “The nature of the dilemma can be stated in a three-word sentence. I am lonely.” …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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2/6/19
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Mishpatim is one of the more prolific parshiot in terms of mitzvot. Close to 10 percent of the mitzvot of the Torah are in Mishpatim.
What sometimes gets lost in translation is the mitzvot’s …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/31/19
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I am a big of a fan of Menachem Begin. One of the things I most admire about him is his tenacity in serving as opposition in Israeli politics for close to 30 years before becoming Prime Minister …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/22/19
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On a whim, I checked out the website of a renowned Judaica store to see what’s available these days. That the only Judaica I really buy these days are books, and I felt a little out of …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/16/19
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One of the most revealing moments in the beginning of Parshat Bo comes when Pharaoh’s officials say to him, in advance of the pending plague of locusts, “How long will this [man] …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/10/19
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When one reads through Parshat Shemot, one can easily become engrossed in Moshe’s story. Whether it’s the defiance of Pharaoh’s decree by placing him in a basket; whether it’s the anonymous women in 2:1-10 who save him
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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1/3/19
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By the time Yaakov dies at age 147, in parashat Vayechi,his sons range in age from 62 (Reuven) to 56 (Yosef, Zevulun, and possibly Asher), to around 48 (Binyamin).
As we know how old Yosef is …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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12/19/18
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After a cliffhanger at the end of last week’s Torah portion, our parsha, Vayigash, opens with arguably the most impassioned plea in all of the Bible — Yehuda pouring out his heart to …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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12/12/18
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Reading through Chapter 42 from a panoramic perspective of history, one sees a premonition of many things in store for the descendants of Yaakov. The best way to read it is in the original Hebrew, …
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By Rabbi Avi Billet
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12/5/18
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