What does God’s name actually mean?

by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki | f 19, 2023 | God, Va'eira

God spoke to Moses, and He said to him: I am the Lord (YHVH). I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but with My name “the Lord,” (YHVH) I did not make myself known to them. – Exodus 6:2-3 The opening verses of the Torah portion of...

Are Science and Fear of God Compatible?

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 15, 2023 | Faith, Fear of God, Proverbs, Va'eira

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz “Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and understanding.” There are several sources for this piece of wisdom. King Solomon, the wisest of the wise, said it in Proverb (1:7). Solomon clearly learned this important maxim from...

The Remarkable Women Behind Moses’ Success

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 13, 2023 | Fear of God, Marriage and Relationships, Redemption, Responsibility, Shemot, Tests and Trials

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Everyone is familiar with the phrase, “Behind every great man is an even greater woman.” In the case of Moses, it took far more than one woman to help him achieve greatness. Moses did, in fact, require six amazing women to help him become the...

The Three Signs: Pharaoh’s Perspective

by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki | f 12, 2023 | Shemot

When God called on Moses to go to Egypt and liberate the Children of Israel, Moses worried that they wouldn’t believe it was God who had sent him. To help convince them, God provided Moses with three miraculous signs (Exodus 4:1-9). The three signs were: Moses...

Three Steps to Achieving Greatness

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 10, 2023 | Fear of God, God, Humility, Justice, Kindness and Compassion, Leadership, Shemot

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz “You’re a lot shorter in person than I expected.” That is the phrase that actors hear most often. It is the flip side of the “larger than life” perception of famous people. Science fiction stories about time machines always portray the...

Why don’t Jews celebrate New Year’s on January 1st?

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 1, 2023 | Antisemitism, Bo, Elul, Nisan, Shevat, Tishrei

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz While the entire world is celebrating, bringing in the new year, Jews are more subdued. Everyone else is flipping their calendars from 2022 to 2023, but the Hebrew calendar is already a quarter of the way through 5783. Why do the Jews have a...