ב"ה
Tu B'Shevat 5768 - January 22, 2008
Jewish Holidays
Tu BiShvat in a Minute
When’s the last time you wished a tree Happy New Year? The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat is a great opportunity. It’s known as Tu BiShvat, the New Year for Trees.
When’s the last time you wished a tree Happy New Year? The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat is a great opportunity. It’s known as Tu BiShvat, the New Year for Trees.
Branches (or: People Are Not Cars)
Some folks think of people much as we think of cars on a highway: each with its own origin and destination, relating to one other only to negotiate lane changes and left-hand turns. But people are not cars.
Some folks think of people much as we think of cars on a highway: each with its own origin and destination, relating to one other only to negotiate lane changes and left-hand turns. But people are not cars.
A Tree's New Year Resolution
Did I grow towards the sun, reaching up higher and higher towards that which I can never grasp, but which nurtures me all the same the more I strive towards it?
Did I grow towards the sun, reaching up higher and higher towards that which I can never grasp, but which nurtures me all the same the more I strive towards it?
The Seven Species and Seven Attributes
Seven areas of our lives represented by the "Seven Kinds": our humanity (wheat), passion (barley), joy (grapes), intimacy (figs), action (pomegranates), struggle (olives) and tranquility (dates)
Seven areas of our lives represented by the "Seven Kinds": our humanity (wheat), passion (barley), joy (grapes), intimacy (figs), action (pomegranates), struggle (olives) and tranquility (dates)
Spirituality
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Please don't tell me "We can't understand G‑d's ways." I am sick of hearing that. I want an explanation
Please don't tell me "We can't understand G‑d's ways." I am sick of hearing that. I want an explanation
Is It Really the Torah, Or Is It Just the Rabbis?
We claim to believe in the Bible, but it seems to me that in reality we're controlled by a small group of old men and their Talmud...
We claim to believe in the Bible, but it seems to me that in reality we're controlled by a small group of old men and their Talmud...
The Joy of a Mitzvah
The two brothers, the famed Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk and Rabbi Zushe of Anipoli, often wandered about together, posing as simple beggars . . .
The two brothers, the famed Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk and Rabbi Zushe of Anipoli, often wandered about together, posing as simple beggars . . .
Parshah
The Parshah in a Nutshell
The Israelites camp opposite Mount Sinai, and declare their willingness to perform G-d’s will. G-d proclaims the Ten Commandments, but His voice is too intense for the Israelites, and they beg Moses to be their intermediary.
The Israelites camp opposite Mount Sinai, and declare their willingness to perform G-d’s will. G-d proclaims the Ten Commandments, but His voice is too intense for the Israelites, and they beg Moses to be their intermediary.
Wanted: Self-Centered, Short-Sighted, Childish People
To the child, "yesterday" is code word for "completely irrelevant past," and "tomorrow" is code word for "utterly irrelevant future."
To the child, "yesterday" is code word for "completely irrelevant past," and "tomorrow" is code word for "utterly irrelevant future."
Ladies First
Commonly perceived as a concession to the weaker gender by the stronger, the rule is actually founded upon a very different rationale
Commonly perceived as a concession to the weaker gender by the stronger, the rule is actually founded upon a very different rationale
The Spark of All Truths
“And [Moses] was there [on Mount Sinai] with G‑d forty days and forty nights; bread he did not eat and water he did not drink” (Exodus 34:28). Very interesting. Have you ever tried it?
“And [Moses] was there [on Mount Sinai] with G‑d forty days and forty nights; bread he did not eat and water he did not drink” (Exodus 34:28). Very interesting. Have you ever tried it?
Torah Business Inc.
Even while he sits at the supper table, a careful look at the businessman’s expression, at the thoughtfulness in his eyes, reveals that the affairs of his business are very much on his mind . . .
Even while he sits at the supper table, a careful look at the businessman’s expression, at the thoughtfulness in his eyes, reveals that the affairs of his business are very much on his mind . . .
Understatement
“Who took you out of Egypt”? Talk about sweating the small details! What about “who created heaven and earth”? Surely stage-managing the Exodus doesn’t even approach His role as designer and creator of the universe!
“Who took you out of Egypt”? Talk about sweating the small details! What about “who created heaven and earth”? Surely stage-managing the Exodus doesn’t even approach His role as designer and creator of the universe!
Shabbat's Dual Nature
The different nuances in the Torah's repletion of the Ten Commandments bespeak Shabbat's dual purpose
The different nuances in the Torah's repletion of the Ten Commandments bespeak Shabbat's dual purpose
The Breakthrough
Our Sages tell us that the Torah was studied and observed by our ancestors for hundreds of years before the revelation at Sinai. So why do we celebrate that event as the "Giving of the Torah"? What actually happened at Sinai?
Our Sages tell us that the Torah was studied and observed by our ancestors for hundreds of years before the revelation at Sinai. So why do we celebrate that event as the "Giving of the Torah"? What actually happened at Sinai?
The Jewish Woman
The Power of Once
I would never experience what I had been hearing about from other women – the excitement, anticipation and spiritual renewal. So what, I asked myself, was the point?
I would never experience what I had been hearing about from other women – the excitement, anticipation and spiritual renewal. So what, I asked myself, was the point?
Falling Down on the Job
I am one of those super-responsible Type A personalities, the kind whose first words as a baby were “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” I have been doing a pretty good job since then, right up until the moment I broke my leg..
I am one of those super-responsible Type A personalities, the kind whose first words as a baby were “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” I have been doing a pretty good job since then, right up until the moment I broke my leg..
A land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates; a land of oil-yielding olives and [date] honey
— The "Seven Kinds" with which the land of Israel is blesssed, Deuteronomy 8:8
Print Magazine
It’s G-d’s world. Everything He gives is good, the sweetest good.
But it is often a good far too great for us to understand. We imagine it is not good, because that’s the only way to make sense of it with our small minds.
Yet the truth is, He gives us all the good we can handle. If we could take more, He would g...
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