Most people would be shocked to know that there is a labyrinth maze garden that made its way into one of the most classical mussar seforim in the world, Mesilas Yesharim of Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzato (1707-1746).

It is located between Venice and Padua, and it is described as one of the most beautiful maze

Artificial Intelligence And School Work

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made great progress over recent years. Within the past few months, one company released two products online for the public to use. Dall-E creates graphic images based on a user’s natural language request,

When Moshe is born, his mother tries to hide him. But after three months and no longer being able to hide him, the Torah describes that “she took for him a reed basket and smeared it with clay and tar; she placed the boy into it and placed it among the reeds at the bank of the river.” The outside of the basket was tar, the inside was

Yaakov’s death unleashed fear and terror amongst the brothers. Free of the restraining influence of his father, Yosef would certainly avenge his sale as a slave. The brothers were so petrified, they could not face Yosef directly — dispatching their pleas for his mercy through third-party intermediaries. Desperate to avoid

Last year, my friend Leibe Leichter had a flight that was canceled. He didn’t receive a refund after a reasonable time, so he spoke to an airline representative and emailed her for a refund. No response. He then emailed a second representative, who issued him a free ticket. Later, he received an email from the first person he messaged,

The Talmud Yerushalmi writes that kibud av v’em, honoring parents, is of the loftiest of mitzvos. A person is exempt from the observance of other mitzvos when he is busy taking care of his parents. Indeed, the Aruch haShulchan writes (YD 240:36) that the exemption applies even if he is just waiting to perform the kibud av v’em. We do

There is an expression, “ma’aseh avot siman la’bonim,” the actions of our forefathers are a lesson for us now.

In parshas Vayechi (48:8-10), we read a peculiar story. Yosef brings his two sons — Ephraim and Menashe — to his father, Yaakov, for a final blessing. Yaakov looks at them both and

At the end of Parshat Vayechi—which of course is also the end of Sefer Bereishit—Yosef tells his brothers that Egypt is only a temporary stop. He blesses them that God will help them make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael, to the Promised Land. Yosef also asks them to take his bones up with them to Eretz Yisrael (Bereishit 50:22–25).

In Parshat Vayechi, Yaakov knows that he is going to die soon. His time in this world is coming to an end and he wants to bless his children before he loses the chance. Before blessing his children, it says “הִקָּֽבְצ֥וּ וְשִׁמְע֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב וְשִׁמְע֖וּ

In our parsha, Yaakov says: “Red eyed from wine, and white toothed from milk.” The Gemara (Ketubot 111) quotes Rav Dimi who explains that this is a reference to Bnei Yisrael who say to Hashem “Hint [to me] with Your eyes (that you are happy with me) which is sweeter [to me] than wine, and show me Your teeth (smile upon me) which is

Last Thursday night, an international Kiddush Hashem was on full display at the new Event Space in Brookhaven Mall in Passaic host to Zichru 1000. This event honored those who memorized the first 1,000 Daffim in Talmud Bavli. For the first time in history, an initiative and event came together that allows lay persons and

How could they? How could such moral people — who founded an ethical lifestyle of kindness and compassion — act so cruelly toward one another. Perhaps, the behavior of the brothers toward Yosef could be chalked up to momentary weakness. Every human being has fleeting indiscretions and these — otherwise — ethical people let their