In the spring of 1453, the great city of Constantinople stood at the edge of collapse. For more than a thousand years it had been one of the most important cities in the world, the capital of the Byzantine Empire,…
When Words Become Visible What Tzara’as teaches us about the reality of speech Parshiyos Tazria and Metzora are among the most puzzling sections in the Torah. The Torah spends so much time discussing discolorations on skin, changes in hair color,…
Pithom, Egypt 1314 BCE Shimon stomped into the house kicking up dust, and wordlessly headed straight to the back of the house to change out of his work clothes. Rachel instinctively knew that he was coming from his brother’s house.…
Why say Thank you? Rabbi Chaim Fink If God put us in Egypt in the first place, why should we say thank you when He finally set us free? Unbearable Agony The group already felt pushed to their limits before…
If a man told you in 1968 that within a decade hundreds of millions of people would starve to death every single year, that by 1985 the earth’s population would be beaten down to a more “acceptable” 1.5 billion, and…
Learning to Listen A Torah Study Guide for Chavruta Learning — Partners Detroit We live in a world of noise. Everyone is talking, texting, technology-ing. Fewer people are listening. And yet the capacity to truly hear — another person, a…
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…