January 1, 2025

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Nesanel Yoel Safran

Articles by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Shame on Nobody

We may get mad and want to give whoever made us mad a piece of our mind, but before we let it fly, we should

Using Our Strength

There’s more to Chanukah than spinning tops and eating potato pancakes. The first Chanukah millennia ago — and Chanukah today —represent a great struggle between

Making Others Jealous

Is it ever possible to treat someone too nicely? If the treatment will make others jealous, it just might be. In our portion this week,

Sincere Praise

We all own a tool that costs us nothing to use yet can improve our relationships with others, get people to like us and make

Real Heroes

Jacob sets out on a fateful journey eastward to find a wife and to escape from his wicked brother Esau, who wants to kill him.

Facing a Bully

Nobody likes dealing with bullies, but sometimes there is no choice in the matter. In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob had to contend with the

True Kindness

It is important to be kind, but what if being kind in one way will end up causing us to be dishonest in another? This

Keeping Quiet

Not all news is fit to print and not everything we hear bears repeating, especially when doing so could cause bad feelings between people. In

Majority Doesn’t Always Rule

Values are not like elections and voting: the majority doesn’t necessarily rule. Abraham, our forefather, stood virtually alone as a believer of God and kindness

Love Responsibility

In our story, a kid discovers that what he thought was a chore was really a chance to love. Pet Peeve Jeremy jumped up and

Less Is More

One of the lessons of Sukkot is that we don’t need to have a lot of things in order to be happy. Sukkot is called

Everyone Makes Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, it’s only human. A lot of times, we feel bad if we do something we shouldn’t. But what’s done is done. On