by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 15, 2023 | Community, Faith, God, Good and Evil, Israel, Judges, Leadership
By Rabbi Elie Mischel One of the Catholic practices that angered many people and led to the Protestant Reformation was the doctrine and practice of indulgences. Essentially, the Catholic church said that sinners could buy forgiveness for their sins by paying money to...
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 | Fear of God, Holiness, Israel, Prayer, Psalms, Purity, Temple
By Rabbi Avraham Norin The Ariel Center is a small museum, hidden within the winding alleyways of the Old City of Jerusalem. Out of all the incredible museums Jerusalem has to offer, this one has a special place in my heart. The museum’s focus is the First...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 7, 2023 | Faith, God, Israel, Miracles, Psalms, Tests and Trials
King David started life as a shepherd but he came from a military family. I imagine his brothers coming home on leave, sitting at the dinner table, telling war stories to their red-headed little brother. Of course, David’s rise to the throne began on the battlefield,...
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...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2023 | Community, Israel, Judges, Responsibility
By Rabbi Elie Mischel Throughout the book of Judges, the people of Israel’s greatest enemy was looking at them in the mirror. Though they were plagued by many dangerous external enemies, Israel suffered most from internal division and infighting. The tribes, by and...
