Why Strive For Greatness? (Part II)
Had Hashem created us in Olam Haba, the goodness we would have received would have been free, unearned. This is the type of perfection that malachim enjoy. However, this is not the ultimate enjoyment.
Grandfather Knows Best
The turmoil called everyday life whisked me along and before I knew it my children’s children were in that unrelenting ride of shidduchim. It was time for us to take a step back and allow our children to move into the driver seat, but once having driven down the road one’s antennas are ever sensitive for signs of new possibilities.
The Status Of A Fetus In Halacha (Part IX)
Even a katan has enough da'as to qualify as a rodef; by engaging in this type of act, the katan shows that he has at least some form of da'as.
Freedom And Truth
Outside the promised land Jews in the biblical age are in danger if they tell the truth. They are at constant risk of being killed or at best enslaved.
Why Strive For Greatness?
Hashem was internally good, but He was not actively expressing this goodness by giving or doing good unto others. Hashem chose to express His capacity for doing good unto others by creating man, upon whom Hashem would bestow the ultimate goodness.
When You Think You Are Alone – You Are Not
I was terrified of the fall that seemed inevitable. Suddenly I felt my hands holding onto a handle which I had not seen before. Now holding onto the handle I was able to steady myself. The crisis was over. Days later I thought that Hashem put my hands on that handle.
The Status Of A Fetus In Halacha (Part VIII)
Another fundamental nafka minah is whether one needs to have kavanah (intent) in order to be categorized as a rodef.
Who Am I?
Consider, now, the choices Moses faced in his life. On the one hand he could have lived as a prince of Egypt, in luxury and at ease. That might have been his fate had he not intervened.
From Loneliness To Oneness: The Endless Expansion Of Self
The Torah describes the voluntary gifts that the Jewish people donate toward the building of the Mishkan, the place where Hashem was most potently manifest in the physical world. The emphasis of these donations is their voluntary nature – Hashem commands Moshe to collect from Klal Yisrael whatever their hearts inspire them to give.
Bitya? Batya? You Betya
Interestingly, some argue the exact opposite: her original name was Batya, but she changed it to Bitya as an act of humility.
Miracles In A Tank
Sunday afternoon they dropped by for a visit. He had small pieces of shrapnel on his face and left hand, and he said that the surgeon told him that, over time, the body would rid itself of the shrapnel. That was comforting to know.
The Last Tears
On the surface, Joseph holds all the power. His family are entirely dependent on him. But at a deeper level it is the other way round. He still yearns for their acceptance, their recognition, their closeness.
The Status of a Fetus in Halacha (Part VII)
We are actually doing a chesed for the rodef by preventing him from spiritually destroying himself. The rodef now gets to die without the blemish of murder tainting his soul.
Chesed, Din, And Tiferes: The Guiding Principles Of Reality
How can it be that Hashem made a mistake – that He originally wanted to create the world with din but then changed His mind?
My Son’s Chanukah Miracle
For one agonizing moment, Meir thought his time in the world was about to end. But glancing at the note taped to his gun, he quickly murmured the words: Hashem Hu Elokim, ein od milvado. Then, a few meters in front of Meir, the missile changed direction in midair, as if it struck an invisible force field.
Three Steps For Mankind
Abraham prays for justice. Judah prays for mercy. Elijah prays for G-d to reveal Himself.
Ideals Lost And Found
The first stage is a gift, a spiritual high. It’s there to help you experience the goal, the destination. It’s a taste of what you can and hopefully will ultimately accomplish, but it’s not real. It’s given as a gift and is therefore an illusion.
Rabbi Sacks (zt’l): A 6th Chanukah Message: THE LIGHT of WAR and THE...
Jewish law rules that if we can only light one candle – the Shabbat light takes precedence, because in Judaism the greatest military victory takes second place to peace in the home.
The Little Namesake
I asked her about the baby’s name, and she said, yes, they had named him after Daniel in the Tanach, but they had also thought of my late husband Dan when naming him. She sent me several photos and videos from the bris. I was overcome with emotion as I watched the segment where the baby received his name.
Israel’s Inventive Capture Of The Negev
Israel’s innovative, young commander of the Negev campaign was Yigal Allon. In order to break the Egyptian hold, he would have to get his troops to the south undetected. This was a significant challenge as the only surfaced road was bordered by several Egyptian strongholds.
The Status Of A Fetus In Halacha (Part VI)
It appears that killing a rodef is not only a complicated halacha, but only bidieved (a secondary choice). We are therefore left with a fundamental question: Why are we allowed to, or supposed to, kill a rodef?
The Author Of Our Lives
Joseph is the center of attention whenever he is, as it were, onstage, and yet he is, time and again, the done-to rather than the doer, an object of other people’s actions rather than the subject of his own.
Yosef And The Battle For True Beauty
Before Adam sinned, he looked nothing like you or I do today... The Midrash says that he wore kosnos ohr (skin of light). When you looked at Adam, you didn’t see his body but saw Adam himself, i.e., his neshama.
A Guy Named Chanukah
As an interesting aside that only etymologists like myself could appreciate, the name Juanacita itself sort of has a connection to Chanukah. This is because that name derives from the name Juan/John, which is a Latinization of the Hebrew name Yochanan.
Mazel Tov Times Two
When the shidduch Josh was in the middle of didn’t work out, he turned back to Moishy to hear about his sister. Eventually the couple met and realized that yes, it really was a match. When Josh and Sari got engaged, Moishy was the happiest of all.
What Is The Theme Of The Stories Of Genesis?
To be sure, a persistent theme of the patriarchal stories is the two promises G-d made to each of them, namely that they would have many descendants and that they would inherit the land of Canaan.
The Status Of A Fetus In Halacha (Part V)
What if the person has full intent to not only take the action, but also cause the harmful result. However, in this case, the person has the wrong information, so he thinks that he is doing something good, when in fact, he is about to do something very bad.
Chanukah And The Eternal Battle For Light
Spiritual debate has been a recurring phenomenon since the beginning of time. Chanukah is when we tap into the spiritual debate between the Jews and the Greeks, as the Greeks specifically attempted to destroy our spiritual way of life.
Of Missiles, Challahs And Cold Storage
In retrospect, I really should have been clued-in as soon as I entered the store. Despite the fact that it was erev a three-day yom tov, the store looked more like a regular Tuesday night than what should have logically been a typical Thursday night on steroids.
The Status Of A Fetus In Halacha (Part IV)
The obvious question arises: what changes once the fetus leaves the womb? Why is it permitted to sacrifice the fetus to save the mother while the fetus is in utero, but the moment the fetus leaves the womb, we can't choose one life over another?
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