During an exciting opening Shabbos dinner of the fall semester 24 years ago, two freshmen, whom we’ll call Molly and Susan, introduced themselves and asked if they could stop by my office one day during the week. A common request seemingly to fine-tune their orientation to Jewish life on campus,
Everyone is curious and interested to know about the nature of the afterlife and if it even exists at all. If people were sure that there is life after their existence in this world, then many individuals would behave quite differently. And if it could be proved that there is absolutely no existence beyond this world, then many
The moral questions regarding euthanasia and abortion are very sensitive issues which are discussed by all segments of society today. Much has already written about these topics in Jewish law. Therefore, the purpose here is not to deal with the Jewish legal issues themselves, but, rather, to give the general Jewish
Last week, we hosted an event on the growing drug issue in the Jewish community. A few hours before the event, a young man I know, or thought I knew well, sent the letter below to me. He asked that I share it with the hope his story can help others and I began the program by reading it. When I
As every rabbi and educator knows, the essence of a meaningful religious Jewish life ideally should be based upon: 1) Gratitude or Hodaah (That’s why we start the day with Modeh Ani, Birkas Hashachar, etc.) 2) Planning and Structure (Davening three times a day, learning seder, working hours, etc.)
“Rabbi, what is that on your wrist?” “It’s a Fitbit.” “Why do you wear it?” “It tracks how many steps I take each day, the quantity and quality of my sleep, and other important pieces of information.” “C’mon Rabbi, sounds like shtick to me. Do you really need that? What does it do for you? You already know you should
There are a lot of good things about cell phones; however, there are also lots of problems with them. Mind you, I am not referring to 'Internet usage' … that is a totally different question. And I am also not referring to their ability to disturb davening which is a big problem. Rather, I am just talking about the fact of having a cell phone! There is much discussion about 'Kosher' cell phones and that is good
