by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 10, 2023 | Re’eih
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki Several verses in this week’s Torah portion address the topic of charity for the poor. The subject is mentioned in the context of a discussion of the forgiving of loans during the Sabbatical year. During the Sabbatical year, every seventh year,...
by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 26, 2023 | Kindness and Compassion, Re’eih
Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (1793–1876) was one of the great Hassidic rabbis of his generation, and a tremendous Torah scholar. He had 15 children, all of them holy, and many great and holy Jews among his descendants. When it came time to marry off his youngest...
by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 26, 2023 | Marriage and Relationships, Re’eih
The great Charlie Chaplin, master of the silent film era, was incredibly close with his older brother Syd. They went through so much together; their father abandoned their family and their mother was an alcoholic. And so Syd and his little brother Charlie took care of...
by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 24, 2023 | Happiness and Joy, Re’eih
In her 2002 book, “Riding the Bus with my Sister,” Rachel Simon, a very successful but unhappy professor, tells the story of her sister Beth, a woman with special needs who spent her days riding public buses and talking to the bus drivers. In an effort to better...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 11, 2023 | Re’eih
This Torah portion focuses on changes which will take place upon the people’s entry into Israel. First, they are told to wipe out all forms of idolatry which remain from the land’s previous inhabitants. They are then told God will set aside a special place for them to...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 25, 2022 | Chosen Nation, Re’eih
According to Google, the meaning of the word treasure is “a valuable or valued item.” In the Torah portion of Re’eh, God uses this term of endearment to describe the Jewish people (Deuteronomy 14:2), a term that He first uses to describe them in Exodus: For you are a...
