Why is “vayikra,” the first word of our parasha and the namesake of Sefer Vayikra, written with a diminutive aleph as its final letter? In his commentary on the Torah entitled Ba’al … more

Visiting Poland is an overwhelming experience. It is a country in which a Jewish community flourished for a thousand years which now serves as a mass memorial to European Jewry. It is impossible to … more

Here are two complaints that are heard frequently nowadays: “There is no such thing as privacy anymore.” “There are no secrets anymore.” We live in a world of cell phones … more

It was never my ambition or aspiration to be a rabbi. I went to university to study economics, then switched to philosophy. I also had a fascination with the great British courtroom lawyers, … more

The more I study the Torah, the more conscious I become of the immense mystery of Exodus 33. This is the chapter set in the middle of the Golden Calf narrative (between Exodus chapter 32 … more

She was a Hindu princess. She was one of the brightest students in my graduate school class. We studied psychology, and she went on to return to her country and become a psychotherapist of world … more

The calendar this year has us reading “Parshat Parah” (Bamidbar 19, which speaks of the Red Heifer) in the week following our reading of the tale of the Golden Calf (in Ki Tissa). Is … more

This Shabbat we read parshiot Tetzaveh and Zachor. According to the Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chaim, the public reading of Parashat Zachor enables us to fulfill two of the three Taryag (613) commandments … more

It was known as shavua tirgolot, the week of training drills. It sounded pretty innocuous, but as it turned out, it was a week of hell. The IDF prides itself on being prepared for any eventuality, … more

If you have raised a child, you have had this experience. Your little boy or girl came home from school with a sample of his or her artwork. To you it just looked like a hodge-podge of scribbles, … more