Throughout world history, the Jewish people have endured severe ongoing hate, persecution, exile, violence and genocide. Although in recent decades American Jews have not experienced much anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. increased more than one-third in 2016 reflected by assaults, vandalism, and
It was in the first month of the second year on the first of the month that the Mishkan was erected. (Shemos 40:17) As we culminate the construction of the Mishkan in this week’s Parshas Vayakhel / Pekudei, and launch into Sefer Vayikra next week, we are again challenged by a methodology to teach beginners... Read more »
As the Kuzari explains, Judaism introduced the world to the universally accepted seven-day week. The culmination of the week for the Jewish people is the Sabbath – a day of rest, connection to God, and rejuvenation. Subsequently, other religions adopted the Shabbat principle by taking a weekly day off from
The Chinuch tells us a great principle: our actions affect and condition our internal, spiritual reality. G-d therefore commanded us to make a place that would be perfectly pure and holy where, both by going there and doing the things we do there, we could purify our own thoughts. For example, the
We will shortly begin the Parshios of the Mishkan. This year, we have the unprecedented opportunity to bring the Mishkan to life, thanks to a stunning model build by Rabbi Hallel Newman. The model is at the scale of 1 inch for every amah, and took over a year to produce. Every component, from the Bazichin of
In an enigma of world history, Orthodox Jews are immediate family and advisors to the world’s most powerful leader. Politics aside, Mr. and Mrs. Yoel Chaim (Jared) Kushner, are de facto believers in a Divine Torah. This
Every week, Rabbi Michael Alterman, a limudei kodesh rebbe at Torah Day School of Atlanta, writes parsha riddles according to the Aleph-Beis. There are 22 brief clues; the answers are Hebrew words found in the
President Donald Trump suspended immigration to the US last week from seven countries amid terror concerns. Although many are protesting the current travel ban, this injunction pales in comparison to the Divinely
In one of the most emotive reactions to a presidential election on record, a spontaneous grass-roots movement swelled into marches by millions of demonstrators worldwide following President Trump’s inauguration. What
