Parshas Shelach 5786

When a Mission Stops Being a Shlichus The primary narrative of our parsha is the story of the spies. Before we delve into it in depth, here is a quick synopsis of what transpired. Moshe sent twelve distinguished men, one from each tribe, to tour the Land of Israel before the nation entered it. They

Is someone messing with your mind?

The essay at the beginning of this Shabbos email is a reprint from the Shabbos email sent exactly this Shabbos, Parshas Behaloscha, but in 2019. The message is unfortunately even more relevant today, in a time when the faith in the media, politicians, and all institutions has sunk to an all time low. One of

Emunah – Faith as a Living Journey

Introduction We tend to think of emunah — faith, or more precisely, faithfulness: a deep, abiding trust and orientation toward G-d — as a light switch. Either it is on or it is off. Either you believe in G-d or you do not. Either you are in or you are out. This framing is not

Do You See That Scratch? Parshas Nasso 5768

Life isn’t easy, everyone is going to have to go through some tough stuff. But you can put pretty much put people in four baskets, based on when and how frequently they have to swim in the muck. Some people are front loaders; they start off life with a lot of pain and suffering but

Parshas Nasso 5786

Parsha Overview I’d like to give a brief overview of all the topics contained in this week’s portion, and then focus in and elaborate on one of the topics. The Longest This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Nasso, is the longest Torah portion in the whole Torah, with 176 verses, 2264 words, and 8632 letters. In

Shavuos II 5786

Sefiras Haomer We are almost finished the Sefiras Haomer period where we count 49 days from Pesach until Shavuos. Historically, the 49 days began right after the Exodus and ended when we received the covenant of the Torah at Sinai. What’s interesting is that rather than doing the usual countdown, we count up! 123 instead