by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki | f 28, 2023 | Faith, Psalms
According to the Center for Study of Religion and American Culture, nearly 48 percent of people who read the Bible on their own turn to Psalm 23. This is not so surprising. For both Jews and Christians, there is hardly a better-known passage in all of Scripture. It is...
by Rabbi Elie Mischel | f 27, 2023 | Gratitude, Sukkot, Tishrei
I remember the day I turned twenty years old. In Jewish thought, turning twenty is very significant because it is only at the age of twenty that we become fully responsible for our actions. Though girls and boys become Jewish adults at the ages of 12 and 13...
by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki | f 26, 2023 | Faith, Lech Lecha
The Bible is the word of God. Because it is His word, no word in the Bible is extra or insignificant. In fact, when we pay close attention to words that seem insignificant or extraneous, we usually find that it is precisely in these words where the deepest lessons lie...
by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki | f 21, 2023 | God, Ha'azinu
Almost the entirety of this week’s Torah portion is a poem that Moses spoke to the nation of Israel in the final days of his life. Opening with the words, “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth” (Deut. 32:1), Moses lays out...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 20, 2023 | God, Psalms
Imagine yourself standing on a at Rosh Hanikra, a coastal region in the northern Israel where the sea meets the mountains. As you peer out over the Mediterranean Sea, the rhythmic waves crash into the rocks, each wave stronger and more intense than the last. This...
by Rabbi Yaakov Wolff | f 14, 2023 | Free Will, Freedom, Pinchas, Rosh Hashana
When I was ten years old, we took a drive from New Jersey to Baltimore. Along the way, we made a short stop in Philadelphia where we decided to explore Independence Hall, the US Mint, and, finally, the Liberty Bell. As we approached the iconic, cracked bell, I...
