19 Nov THE PROBLEM OF STANDING FOR THE TORAH READING
We stand up for a Torah scroll when it is removed from the ark or moved from place to place. Doing so is a sign of respect for the divine word inscribed on its parchment. Do we...
We stand up for a Torah scroll when it is removed from the ark or moved from place to place. Doing so is a sign of respect for the divine word inscribed on its parchment. Do we...
I. Self-Interest and Capitalism The theoretical basis for the economic system of Capitalism is self-interest, another term for greed. Those who devalue greed, who view the accumulation of wealth as a vice, necessarily see Capitalism as a system based...
I. A Gentile Writing a Letter in a Scroll? On October 7, 2024, Senator Lindsey Graham visited the Western Wall and filled in a letter in a new Torah scroll written in memory of the victims of...
I. Teaching Torah G r a n d p a r e n t s fulfill a unique mitzvah by teaching their descendants Torah. The Gemara (Kiddushin 30a) offers someone named Zevulun ben Dan as an example of the...
On the one hand, never before have Jews been as prosperous as they are now. Both the vast majority of individuals and the community in general are currently blessed with wealth well beyond what we have experienced in...
Genocide, the targeted killing of a people, is not a modern invention. Many have tried to kill the Jews, the biblical Haman being perhaps the most famous ancient example. Other nations have also faced genocide, some even suffering from...
As we approach a string of three three-day yamim tovim, people are thinking about their hygiene and comfort, including showering and brushing teeth. I will discuss here the longstanding debate about the permissibility of brushing teeth on Shabbos and...
It seems that every few years, someone argues that the message of the Akedah, the binding and near-sacrifice of Yitzchak (Gen. 22), is something other than that we should follow G-d’s commands no matter how hard they may be....
I. Have a Good Year Many people greet each other on Rosh Hashanah with blessings for a good year, “Shanah tovah.” Rav Ya’akov Ben Asher, the 14th century German- Spanish author of the Tur, quotes an Ashkenazic custom...
The July 21, 1969, landing on the moon was a monumental achievement for mankind, and the leading Torah scholars of the time were as impressed as everyone else in the world. They responded in a variety of ways. I....