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Parashat Balak: Others’ privacy is sacrosanct

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 11:59:34 GMT

Compassionate eyes and a kind heart – yes. Probing eyes and a gossiping tongue – no.

Parashat Chukat: Simple faith

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 11:25:11 GMT

Faith – even when things don’t make sense. Faith – even when life is hard. Even when we have questions, we will always remain steadfast in our beliefs.

Parashat Chukat: Red ashes, endless skies

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 09:17:27 GMT

The war with Iran was something else entirely. It was swift. It was decisive. It was beyond imagination. It felt branded by God Himself.

Parashat Korah: ‘An elevated place in Gehenna’

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 11:50:40 GMT

What is repentance? It is a small, good thought filled with love – the kind of thought that saved the sons of Korah from a tragic fate; a moment of introspection that can save any Jew from harm.

Parashat Shelach: Seeing giants, choosing hope

BY NECHAMA GOLDMAN BARASH — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 19:40:30 GMT

The 10 spies teach us what happens when fear rules the heart. The ma’apilim teach us of the danger of forcing reality to revive an old fantasy.

Parashat Shelach: Believe in yourselves

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 12:20:47 GMT

The Torah recounts the argument that erupted between the 10 pessimistic spies and Joshua and Caleb, the two optimistic ones.

Parashat Beha’alotcha: The call of humility

BY MICHAEL M. COHEN — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:26:36 GMT

We are all entitled to even the strongest of our beliefs and opinions. And yet, we should never be so sure of what we think that we are not open to a different voice, a different opinion.

Parashat Beha’alotcha: Yes to speaking up, no to hurting!

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:26:25 GMT

Speak up! Share your opinion! Try to bring about change – but not through gossip and not with hurtful words.

Parshat Naso: Rich people’s problems

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 11:59:31 GMT

When you live a life filled with meaning, spiritual fulfillment ... you receive a remarkable gift: a profound inner peace and emotional serenity that no material wealth can offer.

Parashat Bamidbar: In memory of Sarah Milgrim

BY MAYAN CHIN JACOBI — Fri, 30 May 2025 14:08:09 GMT

Sara Milgrim: A life of quiet strength, compassion, and fierce faith. May her legacy inspire us to carry her light through the wilderness.

Parashat Bamidbar: ‘Each man by his banner’

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 30 May 2025 12:07:12 GMT

The many hardships endured by the Israelites during their desert journey could have been greatly reduced had the nation learned to appreciate what they had.

Parashat Behar-Bechukotai: Live and let live

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 23 May 2025 12:01:14 GMT

The only halachic ruling that was ever given is that “your life comes first” – and nothing beyond that.

Parashat Emor: ‘Guest mode’

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 16 May 2025 12:29:07 GMT

'This world is not mine. It existed before me and will continue after me...I have entered, as a guest, into a perfect system run by God.'

Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: ‘Holiness,’ ‘abstinence,’ and what lies between

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 09 May 2025 12:04:06 GMT

Don’t aim for lofty, angelic separation “like Mine” but live a human holiness – the kind of life for which I created the world.

Parashat Tazria-Metzora: Skin afflictions as a warning sign

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 02 May 2025 11:58:18 GMT

Just as a bad word can destroy, a good word can build – and that, after all, is the purpose of creation: “The world will be built with kindness.”

Parashat Shemini: Food of truth

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 12:57:04 GMT

Our portion lists four animals that lack one of the two signs of purity. The midrash associates these four animals with the four exiles the Jewish people have experienced over the generations.

Parashat Vayikra: Sacrifices, essence, and meaning

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 11:57:29 GMT

Someone who sins is meant to bring something of himself – his heart and emotions – and to experience a sense of closeness to God and love for Him through the offering.

Parashat Pekudei: Don’t walk away

BY MOSHE TARAGIN — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 14:12:29 GMT

We know who we are. They cannot fathom it. Our tireless efforts to explain may fall on deaf ears – but we hear, and we know.

Parashat Pekudei: The beauty of transparency

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 11:05:53 GMT

Nothing in the Torah is superfluous. From every word – and even from each letter – our sages derived halachic rulings or ethical teachings.

Parashat Vayakhel: Giving from the heart

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 12:22:47 GMT

look at the beauty of the Temple, built in harmony and generosity, and let this be the foundation of your own home – built on love and overflowing kindness.

Parashat Tetzaveh: Yes, you can!

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 12:25:09 GMT

A person can build, act, create, contribute, and make the world a better place. Just as easily, however, the same person can wither, stagnate, and waste his or her life in idleness.

Parashat Teruma: ‘Its interior is filled with love’

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:04:19 GMT

An exploration into the meaning and significance of the cherubim (angels) that sat upon the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle.

Parashat Teruma: Make Me a sanctuary for Me to dwell in

BY NECHAMA GOLDMAN BARASH — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:03:36 GMT

There are a number of midrashim (non-literal interpretations) that reflect the relationship between God and Israel as manifested in the Tabernacle.

Parashat Mishpatim: The Jewish consciousness of ‘hessed’

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:16:08 GMT

You must assist him even at the expense of helping a righteous person who also needs aid – so that you may overcome the inclination to hate that person within your heart.

Parashat Yitro: Preceding the Torah

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 14:21:21 GMT

Good character traits – especially those expressed in accepting those who are different and understanding their pain and feelings – are a prerequisite for receiving the Torah.

Parashat Yitro: Hearing the silence, seeing the sound

BY MICHAEL M. COHEN — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 14:21:11 GMT

Comprehension begins within us, including our understanding and encounter with God – the universal web that connects us to everything and everybody.

Parashat Beshalach: The path to victory

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:14:08 GMT

Unite the nation through love and kindness, and we will defeat the descendants of Amalek.

Parashat Beshalach: How to cross the Reed Sea

BY RAPHAEL SHUCHAT — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 09:36:54 GMT

We are at a watershed moment, and we need to respond from courage, artfulness, and faith, – not from despair. It’s time to cross the Reed Sea together.

Parashat Bo: Beautiful as the moon

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 13:04:40 GMT

The commandment of sanctifying the month is not merely a technical instruction for those who establish the calendar on how and when to determine the new month.

Parashat Va'era: Pharaoh’s sin of hubris

BY RABBI SHMUEL RABINOWITZ — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 12:11:14 GMT

The blessing that led Pharaoh to the sin of arrogance is the very thing that will turn into a curse.