Tag: the Torah

It is only appropriate to begin a Hyman Bloom review with a Chassidic tale. A young man left his village to train as a menorah maker says Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, and returned years later as a master designer. His father invited the local lamp makers to see his son's talents but grew angry when each guest found a different fault in his son's alleged masterpiece. The son then explained he had created the worst work imaginable. If the locals found just one fault each in his work, it was due to their blindness to their own aesthetic errors.

Dear Rebbetzin Jungreis, I have wanted to write you for a long time because you helped me in such a profound way. I am so very thankful for your work, your message, your books, and your unapologetic call to all Jews to return to our Torah and heritage.

Over the past few weeks we have been focusing on how necessary it is, especially today, that parents take an active role in teaching their children the Torah’s view on sexuality and modesty. We have pointed out how important it is that first images to fill a child’s mind in regards to these concepts be appropriate ones.

Over the past few weeks we have been focusing on how necessary it is, especially today, that parents take an active role in teaching their children the Torah's view on sexuality and modesty and how important it is that first images to fill a child's mind in regards to these concepts be appropriate ones.

Over the past few weeks we have been focusing on how necessary it is, especially today, that parents take an active role in teaching their children the Torah's view on sexuality and modesty. It is important that the first images that fill their minds in regards to these concepts be appropriate ones.

In the past several articles we have discussed the importance of parents taking an active role in teaching their children Torah ideas about sexuality and modesty. This is because it is essential that the first images to that fill their developing minds on these concepts must be appropriate ones. There is so much invasive exposure they experience from secular culture, and much to be concerned about in regards to the existence of sexual predators in our midst. If children do not possess clear knowledge and an age-appropriate understanding of the parts of their body and how they can be used or misused it is hard for them to protect themselves.

As individuals interacting and developing relationships, as families communicating and bonding, Americans spend much quality time around the dinner table. "Let's discuss it over dinner" has become a popular means of resolving issues in our society.

While it once may have been possible to shelter our children from inappropriate exposure to sexuality, today it seems to be an impossible goal. Even parents who have made every effort to appropriately safeguard their family may find themselves unhappily surprised at what their child's friends have exposed him to. In addition, outdoor secular media such as billboards, bus ads and newspaper covers portray disturbingly graphic images that force us to confront the fact that our children are being exposed to ideas and ways of life we may consider to be harmful to their souls and their mental health.

While it once may have been possible to shelter our children from inappropriate exposure to sexuality, today it seems to be an impossible goal. Even parents who have made every effort to appropriately safeguard their family may find themselves unhappily surprised at what their child's friends have exposed him to. In addition, outdoor secular media such as billboards, bus ads and newspaper covers portray disturbingly graphic images that force us to confront the fact that our children are being exposed to ideas and ways of life we may consider to be harmful to their souls and their mental health.

The recent arrests of several New Jersey rabbis, coming on the heels of a variety of other scandals in Jewish life that also resulted in prominent arrests, have led many to conclude that Orthodoxy is in crisis and its entire worldview under siege and perhaps unsustainable.

Mix Dr. Seuss-type rhymes with a healthful dose of Torah values and you get two terrific things: the first being Dr. Miriam Adahan's departure from her usually adult reading fare. The second is an effective tool for teachers, therapists and rabbanim faced with community members who just don't "get it" about how to behave as menschlich parents.

Special Note: In last week's column I wrote about the seemingly inexplicable events that are unfolding throughout the world. How do we understand the demonization of Israel, the new escalation of anti-Semitism, and the preponderance of Islamic terrorists throughout the world?

Twice a year my apparel company has an exhibition at The Sands Expo Convention Center, drawing buyers from around the world. During the week of the exhibit, we daven at the Venetian Hotel every morning at 6:30.

The beautiful Yom Tov of Shavuos has passed, but our Yamim Tovim never fade. We are charged to carry them with us throughout the year. While this holds true for all our Yamim Tovim, it is especially valid for Shavuos. This is the one day for which our Torah does not designate a specific time or date. Shavuos is "Z'man Matan Toraseinu," the season of receiving our Torah, and that is an eternal happening, which every one of us must re-experience and relive every moment of our lives. "Not with our forefathers alone did Hashem seal the Covenant, but with us, we who are here, all of us alive today (Deuteronomy 5).

The Aseres HaDibros, the Ten Commandments, comprise the cornerstone of our edifice of life. Every clear-thinking individual is cognizant of the fact that a home built on a shaky foundation is in danger of crumbling. Absent the divinely communicated belief system that forms the basis of our day-to-day existence, our humanity would be diminished and we would become malleable, essentially physical creatures - much like a heartless and soulless golem.

Among the missions left unfinished after the passing of Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yossie Raichik was the completion of a Torah Scroll for a synagogue bearing his ancestor's name. That changed last week as his widow, Dina Raichik, joined a procession of hundreds of singing celebrants through the streets of Krakow, Poland's historic Jewish quarter, to finally welcome the Holy Scroll in the centuries-old Rema Synagogue.

Among the missions left unfinished after the passing of Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yossie Raichik was the completion of a Torah Scroll for a synagogue bearing his ancestor's name. That changed last week as his widow, Dina Raichik, joined a procession of hundreds of singing celebrants through the streets of Krakow, Poland's historic Jewish quarter, to finally welcome the Holy Scroll in the centuries-old Rema Synagogue.

Have you ever wondered what a real korban Pesach looked like, or what the original appearance was of the kosher and non-kosher animals mentioned in Parshas Shemini? One need not travel far from home to get a glimpse of Torah wildlife. Preserved animals provided by renowned taxidermists are now on display at the Torah Zoo, an adjunct branch of The Living Torah Museum located at 1601 41st Street in Boro Park, in Brooklyn, New York.

Two new extraordinary Soloveitchik works made their debut recently at the Yeshiva University SOY Book Sale and at bookstores - and they are outstanding indeed.

In addition to his many duties as chief rabbi of Ofakim, a city located in southern Israel, Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus spent decades traveling around the world - gracing seminars, week-end retreats, and special events - as one of the Torah world's most sought-after, inspiring and influential speakers.

Techeles, the blue strings the Torah requires Jews to wear on their ritual tzitzis garments, has long been thought of as a "dead" mitzvah. Sometime in the 7th century apparently (possibly due to the Arab conquest of Israel) Jews stopped producing techeles strings and the identity of the chilazon, from which the blue dye originates, was subsequently lost.

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In 1931 Marc Chagall embarked on a series of etchings of the Bible that would become a pervasive, creative theme for the rest of his life.

As Yaakov makes his way back to the land of Canaan, several events - spanning the full range of emotions - transpire in rapid succession.

As Yaakov makes his way back to the land of Canaan, several events - spanning the full range of emotions - transpire in rapid succession.

It was the 26th of Tammuz. The sun was slowly sinking behind the clouds over the Old Montefiore Cemetery, the burial place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt"l. I had come to commemorate the yahrzeit of my high school teacher, Rabbi Dovid Wichnin, zt"l.

Perhaps upholding Leviticus 19:31, which insists, "Do not turn to those who worship Ob or to wizards; do not desire to become defiled by them,"

The Akeidah casts a very long shadow in the lives of all Jews, every day and particularly at this time of year.

Viewers who read Daniel Weinstein's list of artistic influences on his website will get the impression they are dealing with an unusual sort of Judaica, even before they see the art.

In last week's column, a parent named Sara asked how she should deal with a book she bought on the planets that contains text describing the world as being 15 billion years old. She questioned if she ought to read it to her children and discuss with them the fact that there are people who believe this - while sharing with them our belief that the Torah teaches us that the world is 5,766 years old.