Why is it that people who excessively indulge their physical appetites for food, sex, or material goods, to the point we could call it an addiction, often yield to many other temptations as well? Shakespeare’s character Sir John Falstaff highlights this very truth. Not only is Falstaff a glutton and a drunkard but he is...
‘Your Mother’s Guidance’ by Rebecca Masinter Chapter 14 of the book of Deuteronomy lists two signs that kosher mammals must possess: they must have cloven hooves and chew their cuds. A few animals have one sign but are lacking the other one, rendering them non-kosher. The Torah lists these animals. We would have expected that...
Do you remember the very young boy who was sent home from school for biting his toast into the shape of a gun? He might even have —GASP— pointed it at a fellow kindergartener. Well, have you seen the pictures of kids returning to school where a masked official points a temperature-recording gun-like object at …
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One of the gifts of the Jewish calendar is that it keeps us in touch with the cycles of the moon. This Thursday and Friday, August 20 and 21, as the moon wanes away to nothing and then a tiny sliver of moon reappears and begins to grow again, we usher in the new month...
I love your program and rarely miss a podcast. We have a bit of a conundrum in our marriage and would like to avoid pitfalls and are wondering what you recommend. I’ve (Jennifer) worked in the business world for many years now and have worked my way up to management positions. Years ago, I read...
Have you ever attended a company’s annual shareholder meeting? A couple’s fortieth wedding anniversary? A school graduation? A president’s inauguration? These occasions share pomp, ceremony, and ceremonial structure that go way beyond their utilitarian function. The music, the way people are dressed and the formal proceedings all help to conjure an atmosphere of unforgettable significance. ...
Schools are opening. Or they are not. In many districts, parents simply don’t know what will happen. Meanwhile, we are being assaulted by articles telling us of the decades-long consequences that will affect different age groups if they do not get back in the classroom. College-aged students will see a lifelong lessening of earning power...
Four years ago, I wrote Musing after Musing as I thrashed out my views on candidate Donald Trump. I wrote as a means of clarifying my own thoughts and many of you honed my internal conversation by adding your own ideas in the Musings’ comment section. After the election, I wrote this piece. I think...
Hello, I’m one of your grateful students. My name is Roman, want to say thank u for all your work and wisdom. Can u explain notion of Chutzpah and some tips how to develop and improve it. Probably u know some books that have deep explanation of the notion. Thank u a lot. Roman Dear...
I know a lawyer who really wishes that he was a rabbi. I also know a rabbi who really wishes he was a doctor. Have you met the plumber who really wishes he was a poet or the bookkeeper who really wishes she was a ballerina? The lawyer is doing nothing to change his profession...
