GOLD AND SILVER
When one considers the inherent nature of a Divine command, the concept that immediately comes to mind is its inherent authority. It is inherently correct to abide by the authority of God as expressed through More...
Freedom, Reverence and Action
When we think of the actual process of the Exodus, we perceive the first step to be God commanding Moshe Rabbeinu to go to Pharaoh to demand of the king of Egypt to free the Jewish People. Why, though, was this More...
COMMUNICATION
After the death of Yaakov Avinu, Bereishit 50:15 informs us that the brothers were concerned that Yosef would act harshly with them in response to how they originally treated him. As long as Yaakov was alive More...
TORAH AND CONTEXT
Reading a Biblical text seems to so many people to be so easy. The stories seem to be quite straightforward; the lessons to be learned almost obvious, the messages clear and unquestionable. This is, in fact, More...
Changing Lifesyles
With the recent survey conducted by Nishma Research (no connection to this Nishma) on why people leave Orthodoxy the issue of “Off the Derech” (a subject which we have also previously addressed has again More...
Why Chanukah Isn’t About What You Think It’s About
There are many misconceptions regarding the holiday of Chanukah. One is that it is essentially a celebration of a victory in a war of independence which the Maccabees fought to free the Jewish People from their More...
THE HUMAN CONDITION
(The following was originally posted in Nishma) The behavior of the sons of Yaakov Avinu in the concluding parshiot [sections] of Sefer Bereishit raises many questions. We expect stories regarding great people More...
THE BACKDROP OF MITZVOT
The famous Mishna from T.B. Makkot 23b states, in the name of Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya, that God wished to benefit the Jewish People so He gave them an abundance of Torah and mitzvot. Rashi explains that More...
The Ethic of Nations: Balancing the National with the Universal
Many of us find it difficult to understand how various nation states arrive at the ethical standards which they then apply in making decisions. In one way, there is an attitude that a nation may, in the More...
CHOOSING THE ONE
In viewing Avraham Avinu’s directive to Eliezer1 to go to our forefather’s birthplace2 to find a wife for Yitzchak, we may wonder what was the overriding objective: to avoid a marriage between his More...