Oftentimes, in the run-up to Tu B’Shevat, I hear divrei Torah which begin “the Torah compares man to a tree,” and then explore the ways

Nazir 15b She returned from the cemetery on Friday afternoon, Erev Sukkot, just before sundown, after bidding him a final farewell. She took off her

First, I will provide a general overview of the widely occurring root ענה. It has four different meanings: 1) respond, 2) sing, 3) afflict, and

וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה עֲלֵה אֵלַי הָהָרָה וֶהְיֵה־שָׁם וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אֶת־לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן וְהַתּוֹרָה וְהַמִּצְוָה אֲשֶׁר כָּתַבְתִּי לְהוֹרֹתָם׃ (שמות כד:יב) “And Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Come up

Traveling by airplane is an amazing experience. It never ceases to amaze me how things that are so tall and imposing when we are on

I’ve got a weird and unique interpretation of an exchange between Rabbi Yehuda Nesia and Reish Lakish on Nazir 20b.As background, the Mishna describes a

רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן אוֹמֵר, כָּל הַמְקַיֵּם  אֶת הַתּוֹרָה מֵעֹנִי, סוֹפוֹ לְקַיְּמָהּ מֵעשֶׁר. וְכָל הַמְבַטֵּל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה מֵעשֶׁר, סוֹפוֹ לְבַטְּלָהּ מֵעֹנִי: (אבות ד:ט) Though we aim to

לעילוי נשמת יואל אפרים בן אברהם עוזיאל זלצמן ז”ל   Question: I spent all afternoon in the emergency room with my mother and did not

Rabbi Irving Levy was a wise and respected talmid chacham and businessman, who together with his wonderful wife, Shirley, a”h, were legendary baalei chesed, and

Parshat Mishpatim, Shabbat Shekalim The special haftarah selection that is read for Shabbat Shekalim tells the story of King Yehoash. Over these years, I have

Editor’s note: This series is reprinted with permission from “Insights & Attitudes: Torah Essays on Fundamental Halachic and Hashkafic Issues,” a publication of TorahWeb.org. The

A “Why” Question Why questions are often the most difficult Torah questions to answer. So, when TABC talmid, Akiva Sytner asked, “Why do we place