How Is Your Marriage? “How is your marriage?” Someone once asked a woman. Her response: “Before I got married, I was incomplete. Now, that I married, I am finished.” Sara’s passing This week’s parsha commences with the sad story of the sunset...
And Yitzchak went out to meditate (daven) in the field towards the evening. Bereishis 24:63 Although the common practice among the Jewish people is to daven Shemoneh Esrei in a very quiet voice and that is what we...
Marriage? Romantic. The source? Not so much! The Torah describes that a man gets married by “taking” a wife (Devarim 24:1). What does “taking” entail? Chazal note the appearance of that same word, “taking,” by Avraham’s purchase of Me’aras...
INGREDIENTS: 2 pounds thinly sliced chicken cutlets 1/2 cup flour Salt and pepper to taste 2 pints cherry tomatoes 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced 1/4 cup sliced Kalamata olive 1/4 cup capers 1/2 cup white wine DIRECTIONS: All the flavors I...
I still remember a slogan from a well- known public service announcement from my youth: “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” Simple yet profound, it captured the essence of true friendship: stepping in when someone else’s choices could cause harm. That...
One of the most antisemitic figures in the world today— responsible in no small part for the sharp rise in antisemitism in recent years—is the rapper Kanye West. He wrote songs such as “Heil Hitler,” and the like, which...
Dear Rabbi and Shira, I’m not sure what to do. I went out on a first date last week, and everything was going nicely. Despite the differences in our backgrounds, we have...
The Mitzvah There is a great mitzvah for one to be involved with making shidduchim between a boy and girl. Hashem was the first shadchan in the world who made the shidduch between Adom and Chavah. The Chozeh from Lublin is...
I. Rabbi Sacks’ Focus on Chumash Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, whose fifth yahrtzeit was this past week, focused much of his teachings on the Chumash, the Five Books of Moses. His analyses vary widely in style, ranging from close readings...
Parashat Hayeh-Sara tells of Avraham Avinu’s efforts to purchase Me’arat Hamachpelah– the Machpeila Cave in Hevron, where he wished to bury his wife, Sara, who had just passed away. The territory of this special cave was owned by a...