It’s strange the sort of emphasis that’s put on New Years. We have 12 new months, 52 new weeks, and even 365 new days, yet so many people see January 1st as a day of redemption — when past mistakes and grievances disintegrate and we can start fresh....

In this week’s Torah portion, Vaera, God asks Moses for the fourth time to, “Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go,” to which Moses again  refuses God’s command.  Moses seems to be so reluctant to do God’s bidding as to be recalcitrant and rebellious. ...

My grandma is sick. I say this with overwhelming blatancy because when someone close to you falls ill, your emotions can’t beat around the bush or be comforted by euphemisms. Four months ago, she dressed herself in high heels and sequined tops to meet...

Our Torah portion, and thus this book of our Torah, is titled “Shemot” or “Names”.  As we know, the title is often taken from the first few words of the portion.   Yet another name that was used for this portion was “sefer yetsi’at Mitzrayim”...

The portion begins, Vayechi, Jacob was living, really living now, even in Egypt he is meta-alive. We want to believe as he is drawing up his legs to die that real life, full life, can happen to him anywhere, any time, any conditions. He lived in the land...

Religion, by its very nature, is something that cannot be explained. While some are captivated by it, others see religion as nothing but a product of humanity’s extensive curiosity—a way of answering questions that are otherwise unanswerable. One...

I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on August 13, 1999. For two and a half years I received weekly chemotherapy treatments at Egleston Hospital in Atlanta. Armies of chemicals marched through my body, each with direct orders from doctors and...

We are coming to a close in the epic stories of Genesis, highlighting incredible family dynamics and how the children of Israel descend into Egypt. This week’s Torah portion begins mid-way through the Joseph odyssey with the Hebrew word Miketz. Onkelos...

One who acts from love is greater than one who acts from fear A few years ago, I received a Hanukkah card from CLAL (The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership), but this was not your “typical” feel-good card, rather — as CLAL generally...

       Do you remember that time when you were little and your brother took your cereal bowl, the really cool one with Woody and Buzz Lightyear all over it? How about your first “date” when that really cute girl in your class came over to watch...

When I was growing up, one of my younger brothers and I shared a bedroom.  Only two years apart, our relationship was typically fraught with arguments, both verbal and physical. I recall tricking him, knocking him off the top of the bunk bed and him...

The sky is blue. Everyone learns that at a very young age. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and the clouds are white. When you draw your parents a picture to hang on the refrigerator, you scribble green squiggles on the bottom and blue ones on the...