This week’s portion contains, the only Torah-mandated ברכה - blessing, according to all opinions, namely, ברכת המזון - Birkat Hamazon, the Grace after meals, which is derived from the verse in (Deuteronomy 8:10): י) וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ וּבֵרַכְתָּ אֶת יְדֹוָד אֱלֹקֶיךָ…
In a field in Ecuador, mountains of bananas lie rotting in the sun. They are a bit smaller than the average banana, and because of that, no supermarket will buy them. They could be turned into baby food, babies generally…
The Eurasian tree sparrow, according to Wikipedia, is a passerine bird in the sparrow family with a rich chestnut crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. It reaches a height of about five inches, and weighs in at just under an ounce, keeping…
Taking a walk in the woods can be a pretty mundane activity, but never when you are in Yosemite National Park. In Yosemite, a walk in the woods is a child’s first walk into a candy store. Every bend in…
Construction is never a simple thing. The general rule is to expect projects to take thirty percent longer than scheduled and to cost thirty percent more than budgeted. But a building taking more than 200 years to build is considerably…
Ki Tetzei תשפ"ג The boy was trouble from day one. Even in the hospital, the nurses couldn’t figure out how to stop his incessant crying. As he got older, the crying stopped, but the mischief and mean tricks he played…
Parshat Shoftim תשפג If statistics are correct, Jews comprise .02% of the world’s population. There are over 2.5 billion Christians, almost 2 billion Muslims, billions more people in many other religions, including non-believers. The Torah instructs us to follow the…
We are living in times when the country is quite divided. There seems to be almost nothing we can agree on, the liberals keep getting more liberal, and the Conservatives more Conservative. News sources are split between right wing media…
Re'eh תשפג When contemplating the motives and goals of the authors of the United States Constitution , we need look no further than the Constitution’s preamble : We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more…
The beast lumbering by my van’s window had a face as large as a pizza pie, and a body that weighed as much as a small car. Its gait was clumsy and graceful all at once, massive muscular haunches dutifully…