Vayikra: 11: 1-29

A lonely hyrax sat on a windswept butte overlooking the verdant green valley below. He was a plump little fellow, about the size of a cat, who looked something like a rabbit who had eaten a few carrots too many—if you catch my drift—and he had deep brown fur with a white patch on

I find that people are generally very curious about mental health and mental illness. The human mind is a fascinating thing and people are interested to know what motivates us to do what we do and feel how we feel.

This week, I thought I’d share some of the more common questions I hear. At a

“Thank you.”

Two little words that we hear on a daily basis, and yet there seems to be a strong deficit in the number of times we use this expression. In recent months I’ve observed the impact of “thank you” and the ways in which this can be therapeutic, beneficial, and overall

We are in a culture of doers. If there is something to get done, well, then get up and do it. In order to get things done, we plan, we theorize, we analyze, and then we execute an action plan. To put our dreams into motion is a very wonderful human ability. We create homes, families, jobs, communities, and so much more. The joys

I know that son No.1 was home for the holidays. I know this because I hung Welcome Home signs all over the house so he would find them in the least expected places (bathroom, staircase landing, refrigerator). I know this because I greeted him when he came home from the airport in a snood that I bought in Monsey because I knew it

In school, my class recently learned the story in Sefer Bamidbar about Miriam’s tzara’at. According to the text, God inflicted her with tzara’at because she spoke badly of Moshe Rabbeinu behind his back. Tzara’at is well known for being a disease from Biblical times that was a punishment for lashon hara, evil speech and slander. As

The Ba’al Tefila(prayer leader) was old, probably in his 80s, his complexion wan, his hair snow white and thin, his posture stooped, but his voice was strong enough to reach every part of the large main sanctuary. You could hear a pin drop as he commenced the haunting Yizkor(remembrance) prayers on the last

A Q&A with Rabbi Nechemye Hoffman

Rabbi Nechemye Hoffman is the founder and Director of Kollel Chatzos. A young, married father of 3, he started the first kollel in 2011 with just 14 members and a dream. Four years later there are four locations and the power

Though ubiquitous for centuries, divorce today has increased significantly in the Orthodox community. In today’s times, almost everyone knows someone affected by divorce. Given this new reality, OHEL believes there is an important need to better educate the wider community about the impact of divorce, and the specific roles that the wider

It had always been our family tradition in Montreal that as soon as we finished putting our Pesach dishes away we immediately headed to the industrial bakery of Kosher Quality in order to fill up on knishes, bread and danish. As soon as we drove away from there, Pizza Pita was our next stop where we would find the line out of the door.

For upcoming vacations, people may be taking trips by car, plane, or van. Some may be staying at a hotel and may be away from a power source for an extended amount of time. I have written about backup batteries recently but it’s always good to hear what’s new and effective out there.

Here

Third of a three-part series.

So much of this discussion is based on non-halakhic but public policy attitudes. It also has to consider the role of da’as Torah. How binding are the non-halakhic rulings of rabbinic authorities? How much room is there for individual interpretation and autonomy? Where do