When Avraham and Lot part ways, the midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 41:7) on our parsha (13:11) relates that Lot exclaimed, “I want neither Avraham nor his

Last week, I wrote about the Balfour Declaration of 1917. This week, I would like to give some further background about the preceding decades. (After

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

I once had the opportunity to ask the Catholic writer, Paul Johnson, what had struck him most about Judaism, during the long period he spent

A Monumental Decision It was a crossroads for Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya. Brachot 27b-28a records that Rabban Gamliel had been deposed from leadership, and the

A fierce flood wiped out all of humanity, reshaping the natural world in its wake. Humanity’s repeated rebellions and betrayals, followed by divine retribution had

Over the years, I’ve experienced several floods during the week of Parshas Noach. When my twin daughters were born, we made a kiddush on Shabbos

This piece is dedicated in memory of my dear friend, Captain Rabbi Avi Goldberg, HY”D, who fell in Lebanon earlier this week. He was a

Shabbat Rosh Chodesh, Parshat Noach As, once again, we read the special Shabbat Rosh Chodesh haftarah, we are reminded that this 66th perek of sefer

Bava Batra 109b-110a presents a midrashic exposition by Rabbi Eleazar (ben Pedat). This third-generation Babylonian Amora was Rav’s student in his youth who moved to

These are the generations of Noach, Noach was a righteous man, he was perfect in his generations; Noach walked with God (Bereshit 6:9). There are

Reb Avraham Mordechai Alter—the “Imrei Emes” of Gur, zt”l—transplanted seeds of the nearly decimated chasidic community of his father (the Sefas Emes), and his grandfather