The Kotel dilemma.

Moshe desperately pleads with Hashem for entry into Israel. Realizing that he will not reside in Israel, he yearns to caress its stones or even breathe its air. Sadly, he is banned, and can only survey the landscape from atop his mountain perch. He

This week’s parsha of Va’etchanan is spiritually supercharged: the Ten Commandments appear once again, the first paragraph of the Shema, the Jewish people are charged to teach our children and much more. But the very last mitzvah which Moshe performs in his life — on the very day of his death, 7 Adar —is to designate three arei

Tisha B’Av is over and Tu B’Av is upon us. It is the fulfillment of the biblical mitzvah of “v’ahavta l’rayacha kamocha” to attempt to make a shidduch. Indeed, in this one act, one fulfills two of these mitzvos simultaneously, since one is benefitting two people.

One is also fulfilling the

Moshe reminds Bnei Yisrael of what occurred at Har Sinai: “Hashem commanded me at that time to teach you decrees and ordinances [a reference to the oral Torah—Rashi] that you shall perform them” (4:14). Simply speaking, it sounds like Moshe is saying that the Torah and the mitzvot are for the sake of performing them.

In addition to gaining sage advice from the Gedolim of Eretz Yisrael, the thousands of bachurim at the kinnus merited to hear words of chizuk and guidance from senior American roshei yeshiva as well. They heard from the zekan roshei yeshiva in America, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky, shlita, who delivered an audio recording specifically for

In honor of my grand-nephew Yehudah Simcha ben Aryeh Lev entering the brit of Avraham Avinu on 11 Av 5782.

Masechet Ta’anit, filled with discussion of fasting and days of sorrow, ends, as the Talmud is wont to do, on a happy note, as Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel declares that the ultimate days of

When things get tough, there is always one place we can turn for whatever help and support we need—that place is God. In this week’s Torah portion (4:29-31), God assures us that even in difficult times He is always with us and wants us to make our relationship with Him real. By turning to God, we come to feel close to Him, which is the

Towards the end of the first aliyah of Parshat Devarim, Moshe states: “And I spoke to you at that time saying: I am not able to bear you alone. Hashem your God multiplied you and behold this day you are like the stars of heaven in abundance. Hashem, God of your fathers, should add to you a thousand fold and bless you as He declared

The Case

The series of thefts was discovered in shul. One woman, a math teacher, decided to bring up the bizarre theft.

“It was the strangest thing. At first I didn’t take notice of it, but something looked different. And then I realized! Someone

In his introduction to sefer Devarim, Ramban writes that sefer Devarim contains an elaboration of much of what was already previously taught in the Torah. However, before Moshe began this, he first rebuked bnei Yisrael and reminded them of their transgressions, and how much they went against Hashem in the desert and yet, Hashem was

Homo sapiens are unlike any other creature. Brushed by the Hand of God, we are formed in His image. We, alone, possess intelligence, consciousness, freewill, freedom of conscience and creativity. With these remarkable tools, we are expected to perfect a world which God intentionally left imperfect. Gifted with divine tools, we

I was playing baseball as a kid, covering left field, when the batter hit the ball…hard! I moved in to catch it, but realized I misjudged the ball as it flew way over my head. By the time I reached the ball, the batter was on third base. The ability to judge how far an item is from you, and your relationship to it, is called depth