You do it. I do it. We all do it. We find ways to avoid doing those tasks in our lives that will really make a difference. They might be unpleasant, hard, boring, perhaps even frightening. Often, they are the very ones we have to identify and tackle. There are the parents whose toddler is...
During Chanukah 2007, just before Christmas of that year, I published an article called A Rabbi’s Warning To American Christians. I think it is even more relevant today fourteen years after I wrote it. Today’s threat may be manifesting differently as rampant promoting of socialism in universities, as wokeness, as governments crushing religious observance by...
More words and more actions We recently observed the 30th anniversary of my father’s death. His influence on my life has not waned. One of his oft-repeated teachings still resonates with me. Saying, ‘thank-you for everything,’ really means thank-you for nothing. Merely mouthing the words ‘thank-you’ is an inadequate response to the good we have...
Among the many things for which we should be grateful, let’s remember to include the idea of a day set aside for giving thanks. In a modern culture that fosters ingratitude and resentment, such a day is ever more so needed.
These days, some people who for years have chanted “my body, my choice,” are insisting that the government should mandate what you put into your body. Others, who argued against the exclusive rights we each have to our bodies, are crossing now to the other camp. Whether you are on one side or the other...
Quick! What’s the name of the person most blameworthy for your biggest failure? Hint: You’ll find it printed on your driving license. Nobody is without regrets about opportunities squandered, lesser paths chosen, or challenges spurned. One of the reasons that New Year makes us feel good is that we see it as a chance for...
Hidden codes embedded in Scripture! Bible codes predict terrorist attacks! Sensationalistic headlines like these have been seen for years. Melodramatic books with extravagant claims appeared in the mid-1990s often written by authors with little Hebrew knowledge. So frequently am I asked about this that I’m devoting this Thought Tool to the topic. While in yeshiva,...
When I was seven, my parents signed me up for swimming lessons which I dutifully attended. For the first three days, the teacher discussed buoyancy, backstroke, and breathing. We never even got into the water. The next weekend my parents took us to a pool. My father, eager to see what I had learned, asked...
Most people may know that the Passover holyday recalls Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. But did you know though that amazingly, one incident came close to jeopardizing the whole enterprise? Just before Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh, God threatens Moses for neglecting to circumcise his son. Had Moses’ wife, Tziporah, not intervened, God would have terminated...
She responded to his warmth, she basked in his company. They shared a sense of humor and agreed on life goals. But every time she thought he would propose, something sidelined him. A new work assignment, a friend going through a rough time…all seemingly reasonable reasons for him to pay her less attention, but somehow...
