“Good fences make good neighbors,” goes the saying.[*] Visible and clearly defined boundaries and limitations make it easy to respect the property of others. People run into trouble only when it is unclear to them where their domain ends…
Bigger is not always better. Robert Wadlow, the tallest man ever on record, would surely tell you that. He was born on Feb. 22nd, 1918 to Addie and Harold Wadlow of Alton, Illinois at a normal weight of eight pounds,…
From the time he was seven, everyone knew that Jonah was going to be a lawyer. He could argue his way out of culpability for any backyard tussle, and he could easily persuade even the most hardened babysitter that he…
I don’t know why the avocado industry has not been able to create the National Avocado Dayyet. I know that September 14 th is the National Guacamole Day and November 14 th is NationalSpicy Guacamole Day, but there is still…
This week, we read Behar and Bechukotai, the last two portions in the book of Vayikra. The second portion Bechukotai rests its fame on the תוכחה - the Tochacha. (No English word adequately captures the meaning of Tochacha, but its…
West Texas Intermediate sounds like a school for sixth to eight graders in a county where people wear cowboy boots to their wedding, their work, and their wake, but it actually describes a kind of oil. Even slightly more confusing…
This week’s portion contains the mitzvah “to count the omer,” one which, at this time of the year, we are in the midst of fulfilling. Starting from the second day of Passover, we make a blessing every night for seven…
This week, because of the way that the calendar works, we read a double portion, Acharei Mot and Kedoshim (last year, for example, they came out on separate weeks). The third verse in Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:3) tells us: (ג) אִישׁ…