The Festival of Pesach is, by far, Judaism’s most celebrated holiday. In terms of popularity, it trumps even Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the “High Holidays.” The theme of freedom that we celebrate on Pesach resonates so deeply within us…
Hans-Joachim Schoeps, Heinz Georg Salomon Frank, Max Naumann. These are names of people we were told existed, but had a hard time believing. These are a few of the Jewish supporters of the National Socialist German’s Working Party, also known…
On the last day of the month of Adar some 3,500 years ago, as the first sliver of the new moon signaling the beginning of the new month Nissan appeared, Hashem taught Moshe and Aharon the mitzvah of sanctifying the…
So few days; so many outfits. What will it be today? Should it be the striped dress by Marc Jacobs with the custom Ferragamo heels? Or perhaps the Armani bubble dress with the Jean Paul Gaultier down coat? Then there’s…
This week’s portion Vayakhel follows on the heels of Parshat Ki Tisa, the portion that relates the story of the golden calf. A brief overview of the events leading up to where we are now will give us a greater…
Our Sages have revealed a deep and profound insight into human nature: אדם נפעל כפי פעולותיו A person’s character is shaped by his actions This means that a person’s day-to-day deeds profoundly affect his character. The 13th century Sefer Hachinuch,…
Pinch never liked Purim. It was too happy of a day, and frankly, Pinch wasn’t into the whole happiness thing. Pinch hated passing playgrounds filled with kids happily climbing and swinging, he hated weddings filled with smiling dancing people, he…