In this week’s parashah, the shevatim are counted, and we find the count of Shevet Levi (see 26:57-62) to be much less than the other shevatim. The Rishonim asks, “Why should they be a smaller tribe than the others”? (The...
Parashat Pinhas is almost always read on the first Shabbat of the period known as “Ben Ha’mesarim,” the three weeks between Shiba Asar Be’Tammuz and Tisha B’Ab, when we mourn the destruction of the Bet Ha’mikdash. With very...
How does a great man say his final goodbye? What are his wishes, his concerns, his worries. In Parshas Pinchas, HaShem tells Moshe that his days in this world are coming to an end. “V’neh’eh’safta...
The IRS announced it will break with a long- standing rule and now allow houses of worship to endorse candidates for political office without losing their tax-exempt status. Since 1954, a provision in the tax code called the Johnson...
Dear Rabbi and Shira, In high school we were told that when we start dating, never to talk to friends about it for multiple reasons such as it can cause jealousy or...
SHIVA ASAR B’TAMUZ IS THIS SUNDAY, JULY 13TH Many people feel that a fast day is a day to sleep and relax. However, a fast day is really a time for retrospecting and doing teshuva. Many different...
I. AI and Video Supervision As artificial intelligence (AI) makes its way into the workforce, it is worth asking whether it can serve as a mashgiach, a kosher inspector. While in the future there may be AI robots that...
The Hovot Ha’levavot writes that when a person goes out to work in the morning, he should have kavanah that he is now performing a mitzvah, fulfilling Hashem’s command that he work to earn a livelihood. A...
A “Tense” Exchange Between Balak and Bilaam Reveals the Limitations of Bilaam’s Power When Balak is trying to entice Bilaam to curse Klal Yisrael, he says to Bilaam: “...