The Pesach Haggadah lists the Ten Plagues (makkot) in order of their appearance in sefer Shemot: “These are the Ten Plagues that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought upon the Egyptians in … more

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 … more

Imagine that we lived in a world of universal peace and harmony, in which war is simply unknown and there is no idol worship. Moreover, picture a time when the Beit Hamikdash stands in all its … more

The parsha of Pinchas contains a masterclass on leadership, as Moses confronts his own mortality and asks G-d to appoint a successor. Great leaders care about succession. In parsha Chayei … more

My wife and I moved to the Jewish community of Baltimore almost 50 years ago. The fond memories we have of the time we spent there begin with our first Shabbat in town. It was then that I met two … more

By Rabbi Avi Billet Issue of Dec. 5, 2008 / 8 Kislev 5769 A web site which caters to the chareidi community picked up my column on Parshat Chayei Sara in which I argued that Rivka was a … more

A larger view of the Torah provides the context through which we can see how the Biblical Israelites were meant to relate to their neighbors in the lands within and surrounding the Promised Land. … more

S he was the Other Doctor of Auschwitz and I recently read a story about her in Yitta Halberstam’s small miracles series.  A young woman (we’ll call her Chaya) had just arrived … more

Jewish history is a series of encounters with evil rulers. Pharaoh, whom we have been reading about up until this week’s Torah portion of Beshalach, was just the first tyrant who persecuted us. … more

The episode of the spies was one of the most tragic in the entire Torah. Who sent them and to what end is not entirely clear. In this week’s parsha, Shelach, the text says it was G-d who … more