Ki Tissa opens with God telling Moses to take a census of the Israelite people. Each shall contribute a half shekel. The wealthy should not pay more nor the less fortunate less. We read about details involving the priests as well as the commandment to...

How often do you mention God in your everyday speech?  Maybe more often than you might think.  God shows up frequently in our rote phrases. “God bless you,” after we sneeze. “Baruch HaShem,” “Blessed is the Name,” as an answer to “How...

In this week’s Torah portion, Va’era, Moses is revisited by God after Moses’ message is rejected by the enslaved Israelites. When God instructs him to go a second time to deliver his message to Pharaoh as well, Moses complains, “The Israelites...

Do you want to live forever? Do you want to be remembered? Who are you and who do you wish to be? Questions such as these loom large in each of our lives as we move gracefully or otherwise through the passing years of our personal journeys. This year...

Were I to be the director of the film version of our biblical stories, a moment in this week’s Torah portion would certainly be one that I would design as a climax.  We open with a speech by Judah, the longest oration in the Book of Genesis, as he...

“And removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; and he had him dressed in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.” (Genesis 41:42) Joseph arrived in Egypt as a slave and rose to the second...

For the past 15 years, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside my wife. People often ask us whether it’s difficult to live and work together, and the truth is I really can’t imagine it any other way. We both like to talk about everything from...

In this week’s Torah portion, Toldot, we read of yet another set of biblical siblings who are opposites and rivals. Because of its economy of writing, the Torah seems to focus on plot-driving, sibling strife, but every time that I read Genesis, I find...