Many of us find it hard to relate to the Torah portion of Vayikra. It focuses on a practice that is no longer in use today. We learn of various types of sacrifices and how they were to be fulfilled on ...

The prerequisite to understanding any story is answering the question: What is its genre? This might seem like an easy task, but it’s really not. Let’s say that someone gets offended by a joke. The ...

“Where There Is No One — Be the Person” — A Lesson for Our Times In Parshas Shemos, Moshe Rabbeinu witnesses an Egyptian ...

The Torah teaches us to revere our mother and father (Lev. 19:3). This mitzvah is embedded within the Holiness Code. In observing it, we achieve holiness, as well as the wholeness of learning from the ...

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but hard words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15: 1). “Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit” (Proverbs 15:4). RECENTLY, JEWS BEGAN ...

The Torah, known to Christians as The Five Books of Moses," is chanted aloud year-round in synagogues all over the world. Regardless of which branch of Judaism a community is affiliated with, the same ...

After repeatedly denouncing and prohibiting the creation of statues, portrayals of the human form, or anything resembling idols—on pain of death—God issues an unusual command. In the construction of ...

The following are some reflections on various essential pieces of “wisdom literature” found in a portion of the Talmud called the “Ethics of the Fathers” (“Pirke Avot”). “Accept a Torah teacher upon ...

I’ve slid back into old habits over the past two weeks. I struggle with obsessive hand and body washing, as a way of coping with past sexual trauma. My body feels polluted and tainted, and I wash it ...