Category Post

Hard nut to crack

Donations. It’s one of the primary themes of the four parshiyos which discuss the construction of the Mishkan that we are currently in the midst of. And there’s a fascinating Midrashic statement regarding donations – or put more precisely, donors…

Kiruv Stories: Angry Bus Driver

It was my first ever visit to what I like to call the best kept secret in the world of kiruv: the Shaarei Zion school of Ramla. No, that is not a typo. I am not talking about some weirdos…

Kiruv Stories – A Terrorist’s Mussar

His messages in Arabic to the people of Gaza are said to have gone viral, and many Israelis look forward to his frequent, insightful commentary regarding the war. As an ardently observant Jew who serves as the head correspondent for…

Song of Ascents

On an excursion up north a number of years ago, an interesting thing happened.  It’s not really all that surprising, though, considering how often hashgacha manifests itself in such an evident manner here in Eretz Yisrael.  Pay close attention to…

Simple Jew?

If you’re looking for inspiration, I wouldn’t suggest taking a trip to the industrial area of Bet Shemesh. With its plethora of hardware stores, gardening shops, car garages, and much more – all squashed into a few, tiny roads –…

Listening Ear

Toddlers. They’re next to each other. But are they playing together? Depends who you ask. Traditionally, “wisdom” had it that they’re not truly interacting, but engaging in parallel play. Preschool children are not aware of others’ thoughts and feelings. Hence,…

Good Boy…?

Fast-paced is an understatement as a description of contemporary living. Increased production may or may not be an advantage of the racing rhythm of our days, but we can’t ignore the fact that attendant fallout is inevitable. One of the…

When Down is Up and Up is Down

A heroic space explorer, and he’s being carried away in a stretcher.  That actually happens on occasion.  The possibility of space travel – albeit limited – is taken for granted.  The reality, though, is that the number of hurdles that…

Clean Slate

CO2. As a species, we humans seem to love filling our world with it. Which may bring into question our collective sanity seeing that it can displace O2 and leave us with nothing viable to breathe. Not to mention global…

Higher I

By all accounts, there were a lot of unexpected twists and turns during the Trumpfluenced election season of 2016.  Predictions shattered, political norms dashed (and new words invented…).  And, believe it or not, even a new vista in neuroscience! On…

Lost at Sea

Six hours is an awful lot of time to be bobbing around aimlessly and alone in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, but that’s exactly what happened to an Australian scuba diver on Tuesday, July 5th 2016.  He was…

People Talk

Dolphins have long been considered among the very intelligent animals on earth. Their impressive array of frequency-modulated whistles, burst-pulsed sounds, and clicks remains a source of great interest for scientific investigation. Not to mention their seemingly great affinity for people.…

Fad or Daf?

Fads are an interesting phenomenon, particularly amongst children.  Take for example the recurring obsession with Rubik’s cubes.  You can go from nary seeing those multi-colored squares to, all of a sudden, seeing practically every boy and girl from ages four…

Light Show

Light shows can be mesmerizing. There are big ones, like fireworks shows; but even the little ones, like fireflies, have a way of casting a captivating spell on their observers. Little more than twenty-four hours passed from the moment that…

WATCH: Defining the Role of the Rabbi

Defining the Role of the Rabbi is a class that was given to Ohr Somayach’s semicha and leadership training program in Yerushalayim. It presents a fascinating analysis of three differing approaches of three of the premier Torah leaders in pre-war…

A Vote and a Prayer

Where would you go if you needed a place to calm down? A park? A museum? Perhaps you are of the fortunates for whom a Beis Medrash is the greatest source of rejuvenation. But would anyone consider a cemetery a…

When in Rome Part II

As ironic as flying to Austria via Rome and Munich right after Tisha b’Av was (see When in Rome Part I), the experience took on a whole new angle for my friend on the way back. With a layover of…

Scorpion Tale – Says Who?!

Ninety-five square meters (= roughly 1,022 square feet) may not sound like much to the American ear, but here in Eretz Yisrael large families somehow manage to make it work.  So the fact that my Yerushalmi neighbors are raising upwards…

When in Rome Part I

A number of years ago, a friend shared with me that he had a very difficult Tisha b’Av. “It was a very hard time for me,” he said. “I spent the past two days watching endless hours of Holocaust videos.”…

Familiarly New

Do you like Giant Pandas? If you do then this headline is for you: “For the First Time in History, an Albino Giant Panda Has Been Caught on Camera”. Ok, it’s from 2019, but if you really like pandas, who…

World’s Ugliest Dog

Someone really ought to give a good scolding to PETA (for the uninitiated, that stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an extremely liberal organization/movement that has practically made a religion out of “animals’ rights”). After all, isn’t…

Midnight Flood

True story. Last night I was suddenly woken up at around 1am (I actually managed to get to sleep before 12am!) by the sound of my sixteen-year-old daughter begging my wife to come help her with an emergency. I (re)gained…

Bad Stories?

“Let me tell you a story. Now that I have your attention—and I hope and believe I do—consider with me why an invitation to listen to a story—most any sort of story—is easily the most powerful way of engaging human…

Nudnik?

Fascinating. Incredibly, incredibly fascinating. That really is the only way that this story about Rabi Yehoshua ben Levi in Maseches Kesubos 77b can be described. It’s for sure got to be one of the most memorable maasim in Shas (following…

Are you an eved Hashem?

Are you an eved Hashem? It’s a question that commands our concern throughout the year, and, perhaps, with much greater urgency during the Yamim Noraim season. With teshuva being the mandate of the day, one may sometimes find himself wondering…