Recently, a relative sent me an amusing cartoon featuring the complications of maintaining a kosher kitchen. It shows stickers usually associated with “meat” and “dairy” designations which read “once fleishige, used to cut milchige onion,” “once milchige, now treife,” “davar charif,” etc. There are pouches which say

The pandemic rages on. In order to survive, we have had to become flexible and open to change. Changes for work, school and shul. We have embraced the essentials and discarded the dispensables. And we all look forward to returning to shul and conducting davening the way we used to. Well, not all of us. I, for one, would like to see a change

It’s time to get the air buzzing, and Moshe comes to inform Pharaoh of the upcoming eighth plague of locusts if Pharaoh once again refuses the emancipation of the Jews. After Moshe delivers the strong warning, the pasuk says “and he turned, and left from Pharoah” (10:6). Where did Moshe “turn” to, and why does it matter?

Stubbornness, like many human traits, can either work for you or against you. When we think of the Jews who survived atrocious circumstances in the Holocaust, for example, we describe them as tenacious, determined, spirited or purpose-driven. On the other hand, we have examples of leaders who were led by evil intentions and refused to bend

Parshat Vaera

A little over a year ago a person consumed a bat and that meal changed the way we view our world. Watching the coronavirus crossing over to the human realm from the natural world has forced us all to ponder the relationship between human beings and the natural world we inhabit. For the

When I was learning in yeshiva I was looking for a healthy physical and emotional outlet. Some of the boys had joined a local gym with hours for men. I was skinny and not very strong. I thought the way to build muscle mass was to lift extremely heavy weights. The gym trainer clarified how it works. I needed to lift weights within my ability

Two complex mechanisms are revealed to us in Parashat Vaera. The first being the heart of Pharaoh.

I was a guest about a year ago at the Boca Raton Congregation in Florida. There, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg drew conclusions about our hearts from Pharaoh’s heart: “How stupid can one be?” he asked

Showing total control over nature, the plagues that Hashem sends upon Pharaoh and Mitzrayim didn’t seem to get Pharaoh to budge much. Why didn’t Pharaoh realize Hashem and the message He is sending? Wasn’t he concerned that more plagues would come and more damage would occur to his kingdom, and moreover, wasn’t he concerned about

(Courtesy of Ohr Yisroel) On the 19th yahrzeit of Davood Rozehzadeh, Dr. and Mrs. Joe Rozehzadeh dedicated the Zichron Dovid Beit Midrash at Ohr Yisroel of Tenafly in his memory. Their oldest son, Dovid, who is learning in Reishit currently, is named for him. Seeing Dovid’s excitement and growth in that

Holiness or sanctity is predicated on the ability to be precise. Mitzvot require a certain level of exactitude if they are to be properly observed. There are many categories for holiness in the Jewish tradition. There is the sanctity of place, i.e. Israel. There is the sanctity of location, i.e. Jerusalem and the Temple. There is the

“What I see from observing the large tzibbur here and what fills me with awe, simcha and gratitude, is how in these very difficult times we can not only overcome the difficulties and persevere in our learning, but we can shteig even higher and reach even greater levels of learning, yegias haTorah and yedias haTorah!”

Moshe was arguably the greatest man to ever live. He scaled the heavens and split the seas. He liberated a nation of slaves and taught them about a God they couldn’t visualize but whose will they could study. For 40 years he piloted a rebellious nation throughout a barren desert on their way to a golden land. How does a man like Moshe develop? Perhaps his