When I was growing up in Monsey, I went into our garage one day and saw a mountain of empty soda cans and bottles. I asked my mother, “Where did this come from?” She replied, “There’s someone in town who’s never been to Eretz Yisrael and doesn’t have the money to purchase a plane ticket. He’s collecting cans and bottles to

Inspired by the celebration of the Daf Yomi Siyum HaShas this past January, like many others, I joined my husband in learning a daf each day, since January 5. I was certainly unsure and doubtful of what my experience would be, and frankly, was initially not at all confident that I was up to the task. I imagined I would either find the

The me’il (robe) was one of the eight vestments that the kohen gadol wore. This robe wasn’t a simple trench coat or “frock,” but rather the Torah tells us that the hem of this particular robe was to be designed with “pomegranates of blue, purple and crimson wool, on its bottom hem all around, and golden bells in their

In the afterglow of the Siyum HaShas at the MetLife stadium and venues around the world, programs have proliferated

The message to begin now and invigorate one’s daily commitment to negotiate the sea of Talmud is now the “p’shot” heard ‘round the world. It is conceivable by all calculations

Dirshu responds to the unprecedented growth of French Jewry’s Torah learning.

Everyone knows that klal Yisrael has just finished celebrating Dirshu siyumim around the globe, siyumim in which thousands and thousands of Yidden took part. The siyumim made waves in the Jewish world and

Every element of the Mishkan was iconic—symbolizing an important aspect of religious experience. The holiest and, arguably most iconic, article was the Ark or Aron, which housed the luchot as well as a Sefer Torah; the housing for the Torah highlighted by ornate gold and decorations symbolizes the majesty of the experience of Torah

A close friend told me of a major challenge in his business. An employee of several decades recently left his company to work for a competitor. Before leaving, this ex-employee convinced many clients of my friend’s business to transfer their accounts to the new company. My friend had helped this person in so many ways, and yet,

One of the greatest problems that has dogged religious life throughout the centuries is the place of material wealth and money in the structure of religious life. It is obvious to all that wealth and money corrupt and sully noble programs and plans. The question boils down to the old and eternal issue as to whether the noble ends – Jewish

The Midrash in this week’s parsha discusses a man who could’ve been easily ranked as the number-one most ferocious and intimidating person to roam this earth. A ruler of the entire world indeed, Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was so powerful and fearsome that the Gemara (Shabbat 149b) testifies: “All the days of the rasha’s rule, not a

Bnei Yisrael are told to take Terumah for God. The famous question is asked why it doesn’t say natan, to give. Perhaps we could suggest that the Torah is saying that all of Bnei Yisrael are kohanim and this terumah is really a taking for themselves. (Furthermore, the fact that the Torah uses the word “terumah,” in this general giving,

“Upon entering the Spinka Shul in Boro Park, I couldn’t believe my eyes! The large beis midrash was packed. Upstairs, downstairs, wherever one looked…people were waiting patiently on line to get their tests, others were taking tests standing, leaning on shelves of sefarim shranks, and then I saw something that was so

Delineating the various religious manuals delivered at Har Sinai, the Torah mentions the luchot, or tablets, containing the Ten Commandments, and a sefer Torah containing the word of God and His 613 commandments. After listing these two Divine “compilations,” the pasuk includes a redundant phrase: “asher katavti,” which literally