by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 12, 2023 | Judges
By Rabbi Elie Mischel Change or continuity? Revolution or tradition? Throughout the modern age, our society has been caught between the values of tradition and stability on the one hand, and the need for change and improvement on the other. A society that abandons its...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 12, 2023 | Judges
By Rabbi Elie Mischel The Hebrew Bible is careful with its words. When introducing a new protagonist, the Bible rarely tells us about their background. Famously, the story of Abraham begins when he is already 75 years old, forcing the reader to speculate about the...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 12, 2023 | Faith, God, Israel, Judges, Passover, Tests and Trials
By Rabbi Eliezer Mischel As a synagogue rabbi in New Jersey, I often thought of the classic insight that “no good deed goes unpunished.” While celebrating happy events like weddings and bar mitzvahs, I would praise a particular congregant or family in the community...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 9, 2023 | Judges, Modesty
By Rabbi Elie Mischel Would you consider a woman who seduces an army general, lulls him to sleep, and then murders him to be a religious hero? Incredibly, the Bible does! “…Yael came out to greet Sisera… he entered her tent…she opened a skin of milk and gave him some...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 8, 2023 | Good and Evil, Judges
By Rabbi Elie Mischel On January 27th, 2023, a Palestinian terrorist murdered seven Israelis, including a 14-year-old boy, at a synagogue in Jerusalem. Incredibly, the terrorist chose to carry out his cruel and heinous murder of innocent Jews on International...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 6, 2023 | Israel, Judges, Responsibility
By Rabbi Elie Mischel When I graduated from my Boston area high school about 25 years ago, I chose to spend a year and a half in Israel, where I studied the Bible and Jewish wisdom at a yeshiva (a school for Jewish studies). As I came to the end of my studies, I had...
