From the Rabbi's Desk

עוד לא אבדה תקותינו. We have still not lost our hope. These are some of the most essential and central words of התקוה, the Israeli national anthem. These words encapsulate the sentiment of thousands of years of our people. Thousands of years of praying while facing Jerusalem. Thousands of years of sitting near the eastern wall. Thousands of years of ending our Passover Seders with the words לשנה הבאה...Read more...

There’s a very humorous story in Rabbi Richard J Israel’s book The Kosher Pig about his time flying for work. He explained that he was a regular on a certain flight, and every week they would bring him his meal, which he couldn’t eat because it wasn’t kosher. Each week the different flight attendants would bring him food and he’d need to explain all over again why he couldn’t eat the food. Finally, one morning a very excited...Read more...

There are many parts of the Torah that are rough and difficult. There are many times where the reader is forced to question how something could be written in such a fashion. A great example of this is the story of the Rape of Dina. The lack of caring shown by her father, Jacob, and the violence that occurred, were both so disillusioning and yet there they are in our holy text. It’s clear to me that struggling with text isn’t a sign of...Read more...