Eulogy first, tears later: Why did Avraham praise Sarah before he wept? Rabbi Weinreb weighs three commentators and finds Sarah still very much present. more

If beauty is vain, why praise Sarah? Rabbi Dr. Wiseman’s answer is that kings adored the Matriarch, yet her looks never went to her head or shook her faith. more

Glass like snow: At a Long Beach Kristallnacht vigil, a 96-year-old survivor stunned the room. Rabbi Berlin finds her secret in Avraham — who wept, then rose. more

Isaac’s quiet power: Rabbi Sacks on morning, afternoon and night — how three patriarchs gave us three daily prayers, and why real conversation is itself a prayer. more

It seems that we often mistake cause and effect in the unfolding of the events in the Torah. What from the outside looks to be a reason for something not to occur is really the cause of its … more

I’m a Brooklyn boy, born and bred. Apart from occasional visits to the Prospect Park Zoo and the park’s lake and skimpy woods, I grew up in a totally urban environment, with few opportunities to … more

This past Shabbos, as I approached the pulpit to lead a Mi Sheberach, my five-year-old slipped away from youth groups and followed me up. He then proceeded to be exactly what he is, a five-year-old. … more

It is the hardest passage of all, one that seems to defy understanding. Abraham and Sarah have waited years for a child. G-d has promised them repeatedly that they would have many descendants, as … more

I picked him up at the airport. He was arriving in Baltimore, where I was then a rabbi, to deliver an address and then return home to New York. The plane was late, so when he arrived, I … more

Parshat Lech Lecha is filled with Divine promises and covenants. Avraham is informed that a great nation will descend from him, and to his credit, he trusts Hashem wholeheartedly: And he put his … more