You Can’t Always Get What You Want Ki Saitzei 5784

You can’t always get what you want. But sometimes you get exactly what you want. Today, I got exactly what I wanted. I wanted to write a Shabbos email, and was looking for inspiration, when my good friend Noach Klein sent me something quite remarkable, and perfect for this time of year. It was an

Parshas Ki Tezei 5784

In this week’s portion, the Torah commands us (Deuteronomy 22:8): (ח) כִּי תִבְנֶה בַּיִת חָדָשׁ וְעָשִׂיתָ מַעֲקֶה לְגַגֶּךָ וְלֹא תָשִׂים דָּמִים בְּבֵיתֶךָ כִּי יִפֹּל הַנֹּפֵל מִמֶּנּוּ 8) If you build a new house, you shall make a fence for your roof, so that you will not place blood in your house if a fallen one

I’m going to Huff and Puff, and… Parshas Shoftim 5784

There used to be four seasons a year; spring, summer, fall and winter. But these days we have created many more seasons for ourselves. There is constructions season from April to Nov, Pumpkin Spice Latte season, which had an early start this year, showing up on August 27, and will likely run through mid-December. There

Biting the Hand that Feeds You Parshas Re’eh

Let’s play a game. I’m going to introduce you to four people, and you have to figure out which one doesn’t fit in the group. Up first is Yousef Muhammad Al-Zahari, a 53 year old man from Akhmin, a small farming village in Egypt. He’s a lanky man with a deeply lined weather-beaten face, gray

Get out! Yes, I’m talking to you, Get Out! Parshas Ekev 5784

Dear Reader: I’m currently in Montana, learning and teaching with about 40 young Jewish men from all over the US and Canada. Therefore, I don’t have the time to write a Shabbos email from scratch, so I’ll share one from 2018, hopefully it’s long enough that it’s “new” to you again! The closer you get

How Many Horsepower do You Have Parshas V’eschanan

Hand Built in England. That is the proud claim that greets you as you open the door of an Aston Martin DB9 Volante, long considered to be of the most beautiful creations in the automotive universe. The next thing that greets you is the scent of some of the world’s finest leather, as at least