One wonders whether the Mashiach (messiah) and the redemption he is meant to bring still have not come because we are still waiting for him, or because he is still waiting for us. more

I recall, after my cousin Benjy Hillman was killed in the Second Lebanon War, hearing of one particular Shabbat when Benjy, a company commander in the Elite Egoz anti-terror unit, was due to go home on leave. It’s difficult to describe, to anyone who has not experienced it, just how valuable a weekend pass is in the army. more

A simple reading of the Gemara in Arakhin 16a informs us that tzaraat, a spiritual disease with a physical manifestation that is definitely not “leprosy,” could come upon a person for one of seven sins: lashon hora (slander and gossip), murder, swearing in vain, immorality, haughtiness, theft, and stinginess. Raise your hand if you might get tzaraat if such a disease were extant today. (We can all put our hands down now.) more

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to take a long-overdue vacation with my family in Walt Disney World.For our children, who had just spent the better part of a year dealing with the day-to-day challenges of living in Israel post-Oslo, and especially watching their father constantly in and out of the army reserves, Disney must have seemed like a fantasy world, and I was curious to see how they would respond to the educational challenges it would present. more

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 11:6) records a strange narrative surrounding the appointment of Aharon and his sons as the Kohanim. more

Rava said, “A person has the obligation ‘libsumei b’puria’ (until he does not know the difference between ‘cursed is Haman’ and ‘blessed is Mordechai’).” – Talmud Megilla 7b more

As we dress in costumes for this weekend’s celebration, it should be noted that one of the stories in the Megillah of Esther is very much about clothing. more

In his Yizkor sermon on Yom Kippur 1963 (“Body and Soul”), Rabbi Norman Lamm introduced a fascinating idea in the name of Rabbi Moshe Avigdor Amiel. Before Avraham, humans were referred to as basar (literally “humans” or “flesh”) — “Man shall leave his father and mother, and cling to his wife so they may become one basar (human/flesh).” “And all the basar (humans) died [in the flood].” more

Sometimes, heroes are the most ordinary people, who rise to the most extraordinary occasions. Like Noam Apter. more

Moshe saw all the work, and behold they had done it. Just as G-d commanded, so they did. And Moshe blessed them.” more