Don’t Do Well — Do Good
April 29, 2009
This week’s Torah portion lays out a comprehensive array of divinely ordained commandments that define the range of Judaism’s unique values.
Rabbi Dov Fischer
Them vs. Us
December 11, 2008
Parshat Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4-36:43) Certainly, ours is a history of being targeted by \”them\” for no reason other than our being \”us.\” The Christian, en route to liberate the Holy Land from the infidel Muslim Saracens, stopped along watering holes throughout Europe to massacre whole Jewish bystander communities.
Back to School
August 7, 2008
Parshat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) In Parshat Devarim we begin a new book, Deuteronomy, the fifth and final volume of the Five Books of Moses, or the Pentateuch. In Hebrew, we call it the Chumash, or the Torah. Christians call it the Old Testament. Each of these names implicitly perceives the Book of Devarim as part and parcel of an integrated package
Gift of unanswered prayers
June 12, 2008
Parshat Beha\’alotecha (Numbers 8:1-12:16)
When prayer is not answered, sometimes — as the country singer Garth Brooks poetically has observed — one reflects, stunned, and suddenly realizes that some of God\’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
Lessons of gratitude
December 28, 2007
In the course of a lifetime, we encounter any number of friends.
Some are friends by happenstance — friends who happen to attend school with us, happen to work where we do or reside near us. When we graduate from school, change careers or relocate, most such friends slowly disappear from our lives — and we from theirs.
Even the subtlest slight deserves a challenge
December 7, 2007
It happens to all of us. You are with friends, engaged in small talk, and then someone makes a disparaging comment about a common acquaintance. You didn\’t see the insult coming, but there it is. It\’s entered the conversation.
What should you do? Should you challenge the slight or let it go by unaddressed?
We have the right to an indivisible Jerusalem
November 1, 2007
Rabbi Dov Fischer responds to Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky\’s invitation to have a conversation about Jerusalem.
Sleepovers for Strangers
October 26, 2007
Today, the symbols of hospitality more typically are the bedroom at the end of the hall, the face and bath towels, and an old blanket with pillowcases that don\’t match. But that\’s OK. Because if it is part of their childhood, your children will continue this wonderful tradition of hachnasat orchim when they have homes and households. They are watching you and learning. Just as you do what your parents did when you grew up. Just as Joseph. Just as Rivkah. Just as Lot. All continuing this remarkable tradition, so strangely unique in society, of housing unknown sleepovers, feeding them and footing the bill with joy.
The Well-Blessed Person
August 31, 2007
Feed a person manna from heaven, and he wants quail. Give him the Torah, give him a Promised Land, lead him through battle without a defeat – and he wants to turn back at the first intimation of challenge and risk.
Where it comes from
May 4, 2007
Not all of us realize it, but Parshat Emor is one of the most frequently read Torah portions we encounter. We typically read it in May, and again on Passover\’s second day and on the first two days of Sukkot. It is read on these two festivals because, like D\’varim (Deuteronomy) chapter 16 in Parshat Re\’eh, it sets forth critical details that define the Torah observances\’ unique requirements for us.
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