Rabbi Chanan Morisson Many years ago at a Seder I attended, one of the guests raised a difficulty in the Torah’s account of the Exodus which he felt was insolvable. None of the answers offered to him satisfied him. Over the years I have searched for a solution to this problem; only recently did I … Read more
What is the value of an offering that costs almost nothing? Rabbi Lazer Gurkow A Little is Enough If you were a little fly on the wall of the Tabernacle or Temple you would notice a curious aspect of the sacrificial rite, namely the daily offerings. Each morning, at dawn’s earliest light, a sheep offering … Read more
Ki Tissa: The First and Second Luchot Rabbi Chanan Morisson “As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses was angry. He threw down the tablets in his hand, shattering them at the foot of the mountain.” (Ex. 32:19) Why did Moses need to break the luchot? He could have put … Read more
by Slovie Jungreis-Wolff Bond in unity and stand up as proud Jews. As anti-Semitic incidents rise at an alarming rate, I am listening carefully to the message of Purim. The Jewish people were frightened, faced with threat of annihilation. Haman’s hatred hung over the nation like a dark cloud. King Achashverosh told Haman “to do … Read more
Rabbi Chanan Morisson The Talmud gives an account of the enigmatic Tachash, a mysterious creature whose beautiful multicolored hide was used as a covering for the Tabernacle: “The Tachash that lived in the time of Moses was a unique species. The Sages could not determine whether it was domesticated or wild. It only appeared at … Read more
Rabbi Chanan Morisson The Talmud (Berachot 10b) tells a puzzling story about the righteous king Hezekiah. It is related that the king secreted away the medical books of his day. Why? King Hezekiah felt that the people relied too heavily on the prescriptions described in those texts, and did not pray to God to heal … Read more
by Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein One of the great miracles of world history is the eternal vibrancy and relevance of Torah. It was with mixed emotions that I visited Humboldt University in Berlin a few weeks ago to deliver the annual Hildesheimer lecture on Jewish law. Humboldt is Berlin’s oldest university. Marx and Engels studied … Read more
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, The Arab demand for Israel’s withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and the Golan brought on their economic collapse and deadly revolutions. The Western obsession with Arab refugees in Israel brought on the plague of refugees in the US and Europe The Reason for the Ten Plagues As is known, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart … Read more
