On Chol Hamoed Succos a few years ago, the Staum family attended a concert in Teaneck featuring Mordechai Shapiro and the Yeshiva Boys Choir. It

Our parsha begins with the topic of a Jew who is sold as a slave. It states, “If you buy a Jewish bondsman, he shall

Sept. 1, 1923 was the 20th of Elul – almost 102 years ago. An earthquake, a very powerful one, hit Japan’s Kanto plain. It completely

At Exodus 23:5, we are told that if one sees the donkey of one’s enemy lying (on the ground) under his burden, “Ve-chadalta mei-azov lo,

Coming Down From Sinai Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz derives an important life lesson from this week’s Torah portion of Mishpatim. He writes: “The most unusual part

We want to be nice to everyone. We try to help people when we can and not hurt their feelings. But for certain special people,

We have endured a year of hardship that has tested our emunah. The savage slaughter of our people and the painful aftermath have left us

Megillah Pesukim Read Aloud Hands down, this is my favorite Sephardic Purim practice. But first, a little background… As is well known, the Rama (Orach

King Louis XIV once had a fascinating conversation with the renowned 17th-century Roman Catholic philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal. The king, intrigued, asked Pascal to

Last year my rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Elefant, put together a Shabbos reunion for his married talmidim. Rabbi Zevi Seidenfeld, my friend who helped organize the

My dear friend and teacher, Rav Dovid’l Weinberg of Yerushalayim Ir haKodesh related a maaseh about Reb Shalom Rokeach, Der Ershter Rov—the First Rebbe of

Parshat Yitro “Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh Hashem tzavakot … ” What a powerful declaration! What a glorious revelation! And what a remarkable introduction to Yishayahu’s divine