“The world doesn’t revolve around you.” “Believe it or not, you’re not the center of the universe.” We’ve all heard these lines. We’ve (hopefully) all spent the time between babyhood and the present learning to accept them. But in the process, we’ve lost something. Because in a certain sense, they’re false. The world really does... Read more »
The Beginnings of Mankind Adam HaRishon was the first man. Hashem created him from the earth of the ground, and thus he was called Adam, meaning “earth.” Hashem created a wife for Adam. Adam called his wife Chavah because she was the mother of all people. [1] Hashem planted a garden in Eden, to the... Read more »
And what does G-d demand of you except to do kindness and justice and to walk modestly with your G-d. Micah (6:8) IN THE IMAGE OF G-D R. H. Tawney stated that “The essence of all morality is this: to believe that every human being is of infinite importance, and therefore that no consideration of... Read more »
While Olam Haba is one of the very foundations of Jewish belief, what our classical sources say about it is not widely known. The more that we understand Olam Haba ourselves, the better we will be able to teach it to our students. This is Rabbi Resnick’s second and final essay addressing the topic. The Medrash... Read more »
The importance of leadership in government, business, and every facet of society cannot be overstated. The shelves of our bookstores are stacked with advice on how to become an effective leader. Everyone expects only the highest standards from our leaders. What are the criteria for Jewish leadership? In Parshat Shemot, God chooses Moshe Rebeinu to... Read more »
While Olam Haba is one of the very foundations of Jewish belief, what our classical sources say about it is not so widely known. The more that we understand Olam Haba ourselves, the better we will be able to explain it to our students. We will address this in two essays. How much can we... Read more »
‘Cognitive dissonance’ is a term coined by psychologist Leon Festinger back in 1957 in his book, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. It refers to the discomfort that a person feels when there is misalignment between their behavior and their values or beliefs. It can also occur when a person holds two contradictory beliefs at the same time.... Read more »
This time of year, when most people think of Times Square, they picture the tremendous New Year’s Eve party attended by more than a million people filled with banners, streamers and the ball that drops at midnight. Less well known, and with much poorer attendance, is an event in Times Square that takes place just a few days
On motzaei Shabbos, I took the “long” route home from maariv. It’s about two minutes longer than if I had used the shortcut. But because of heavy rain that fell just minutes before, the shortcut was muddy and treacherous. So, I decided to take the “long” way home to save myself the possibility of slipping... Read more »
THE HISTORY OF MAN AND THE HISTORY OF EACH MAN We are, as the British-American poet W.H. Auden once said, “history making creatures.” [1] We make this history together with our G-d. As Jews, we cannot allow ourselves to be passive observers, swept along by the events that others make. We are a history-making people!... Read more »
“The world doesn’t revolve around you.” “Believe it or not, you’re not the center of the universe.” We’ve all heard these lines. We’ve (hopefully) all spent the time between babyhood and the present learning to accept them. But in the process, we’ve lost something. Because in a certain sense, they’re false. The world really does... Read more » 
