Two Forms of Pei – the open one to speak, the closed to keep quiet. There are only 834 open Pei’s in the whole Chumash, but there are 3,976 closed Pei’s. Most of the other letters are in the thousands. The open Pei has the smallest amount. This leads to an amazing lesson regarding how... Read more »
You know those uber-organized people who keep color-coded calendars, never show up late, and fill the cracks in their day with productive tasks? An admirable group. Many of us, however, haven’t yet reached their madreiga. Leaders are often visionaries – creative, innovative, big-picture thinkers. Keeping track of nitty-gritty practical details isn’t always our strong suit. But there’s... Read more »
WHAT’S YOUR SEDER TAKEAWAY? Ahh. Another beautiful Seder. Sparkling divrei Torah. Stirring singing. Delicious brisket. Family togetherness. Struggling to keep your eyes open as you mop up the late-night wine spills, you sigh in contentment. What a beautiful experience you just enjoyed! A cousin stops you on the way into the kitchen, hands full of... Read more »
We are honored to present Rabbi Yaakov Moskowitz’s new video commemorating the yahrzeit of Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg zt”l – 27 Adar 5772 / March 30, 2012. This presentation is the next installment of his “Growth Through Our Gedolim” series. I was at a question and answer session several years ago with Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg... Read more »
Rebbe says: … “Look at (scrutinize) three things, and you will not come to the hands of sin. Know what is above you: An eye which sees, an ear which hears, and all your actions are written in a book.” (Avot 2:1) רבי אומר… הִסְתַּכֵּל בִּשְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים וְאִי אַתָּה בָא לִידֵי עֲבֵרָה, דַּע מַה לְּמַעְלָה... Read more »
A while back, while fundraising for a kiruv project geared for American Jewish students, I decided to do something out-of-the-box. The American fundraising landscape is filled with Jewish (or Jew-ish) philanthropic foundations. Most of them weren’t established to fund your typical Torah learning program. But I wanted to conduct a little experiment. I wanted to... Read more »
As Rabbi Moshe Scheinerman lamented in his hespid, we have absolutely no understanding nor do we possess the spiritual sophistication to properly describe the Gadol HaDor, Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l. Rav Chaim’s own father was the Steipler Gaon, not only a Gadol HaDor, but was also known as a “Kodesh – Holy Sage.” He lived... Read more »
When translating a given text, one typically translates the words or phrases into the target language by considering the meaning of that word or phrase in the original language and then offering the semantic equivalent in the target language. However, when it comes to proper names, this method often remains unhelpful, because the meaning of... Read more »
It’s a thorn-in-the-side challenge for everyone who needs to fundraise. On the one hand, you don’t want to sound needy. Even though you… are. Your organization has a need that must be filled, or you can’t continue your work. Yet you don’t want to sound like a schlimazel. You want to sound confident! On the... Read more »
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Viktor E. Frankl CONDEMNED TO CHOOSE Jean-Paul Sartre claimed that we are “condemned to freedom.” By this, he meant that I am not free because I must make... Read more »