Humor can be dangerous. In Stalinist Russia laughing at a joke the regime deemed inappropriate might trigger loss of a job or worse. Today, in the United States, comedians as famous as Jerry Seinfeld no longer perform on college campuses based on the hate-filled reactions hurled at them. Paradoxically, a sense of humor remains high...
There are many secrets to success in life, but here’s a good one: Empower your wife and other vital women in your life to bring out the best in you. This lesson emerges from a mystery posed by three verses, Genesis 24:58-60. Verse A:They called Rebecca and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” ...
One of my least favorite laws was the National Speed Limit law of 1974 that mandated 55 miles per hour as the legal maximum. Government assured us that it would save gasoline that, back then, we were lining up at gas stations to buy at, gasp! 55 cents a gallon. Of course the law did...
“You look at the sun three times a week?” asked George’s optometrist incredulously. George explained that counting sunspots was his hobby and he depended upon his eye-care professional to keep his vision healthy. “I can only keep your eyes healthy, George, if you follow the rules,” insisted his doctor. How ridiculous of George to keep...
One of the most frequently recurring questions that I am asked is this: “Rabbi Lapin, I try to live my life as an upright and decent person and I try to make my decisions according to the Biblical code of good and evil but I often feel exploited. Sometimes relatives count on my good nature...
In a Torah-observant Jewish home, Passover may be an eight-day holyday (seven in the land of Israel), but preparations for the Festival, both physical and spiritual, commence weeks earlier. I’ve discussed in previous Thought Tools that Passover revolves around family. Paradoxically, however, Passover is one of the three pilgrimage festivals. In the times of Solomon’s...
To the dismay of my parents and the bewilderment of my wife Susan’s parents, we sailed our family from Los Angeles to Honolulu on our small sailboat a number of years ago. We spent nearly a year in preparation. Susan planned the meals for the entire voyage and wrote down where each item of food...
Have you ever wondered why the plays of William Shakespeare are still being read and remain popular after four hundred years while most books written fifty years ago are already out of print? The answer is that they reveal reality. They teach how the world really works. Another way of describing it is to say...
Sleep, not hibernate. What happens if you extract a little blood from a hibernating ground squirrel, preserve it till the summer and inject it into another squirrel? That active little mammal with his bushy tail will instantly go into hibernation. We don’t clearly understand if cold weather sets off the chemical changes in squirrel blood...
Or 3 Rules for Getting Married Here are three questions to ask the young man dating your daughter: (1) Do you wish to marry my daughter? (2) Do you have a job? (3) Do you honor your parents? If his answer to any one question, or to all three questions is, “Well…” followed by a...
