Cognitive dissonance hung heavy in the humid air. The people of Maranello, Italy were unsettled. A fire-engine red Ferrari had been driving through town all morning causing quite a racket. Usually, the snarling growl of a Ferrari didn’t bother the people…
This Shabbat, we will read two portions, Behar and Bechukotai. In Parshat Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-13), Hashem promises the Jewish people that if they keep His commandments, they will receive many blessings and experience no hardships. The rains will fall in…
I could hear the screams from the other side of the door. A good friend of mine had just undergone back surgery a few days earlier, and I was trying to do the right thing by visiting him, but the…
Bechukotai תשפ"ב When the Jewish people committed the sin of the golden calf, Hashem said to Moshe (Exodus 32:9,10): (ט) וַיֹּאמֶר יְדֹוָד אֶל משֶׁה רָאִיתִי אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה וְהִנֵּה עַם קְשֵׁה עֹרֶף הוּא: (י) וְעַתָּה הַנִּיחָה לִּי וְיִחַר אַפִּי בָהֶם וַאֲכַלֵּם…
Behar – Bechukotai תשפא Once again, this Shabbat, we will read two portions, Behar and Bechukotai. The first verse in Behar begins in a peculiar way. It says (Leviticus 25:1): ספר ויקרא פרק כה א) וַיְדַבֵּר יְדֹוָד אֶל משֶׁה בְּהַר…
Bahar – Bechukotai תשפ In Parshat Bechukotai (the second of the two portions that should be read if there were Shul this week), Hashem promises the Jewish people that if they keep His commandments, they will receive every blessing in…
They call it “Standing on Top of the World.” In reality, it refers to standing on top of Mount Everest, which at 29,029 feet above sea level, is the highest point on Planet Earth. And while standing on Everest’s summit…