by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 25, 2023 | Good and Evil, Justice, Kedoshim, Lech Lecha, Responsibility
The Holocaust stands as one of the darkest chapters in human history, when the world’s silence allowed the genocide of millions to persist. After the horrors of World War II, the phrase “Never Again” became a global rallying cry, a commitment to not...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 11, 2023 | God, Good and Evil, Ha'azinu, Responsibility
The portion of Ha’azinu contains the song mentioned in the previous Torah portion (Vayeilech), which God told Moses to teach the Children of Israel so they would always understand the consequences of their actions. It ends with Moses preparing to die before the people...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 19, 2023 | Community, Freedom, God, Happiness and Joy, Holiness, Psalms, Responsibility, Tests and Trials
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz A long time ago, I worked as a cook in exclusive restaurants in Manhattan. I once got a special order for a lunch party of ten young businessmen celebrating their success. They were all under thirty years old and they had each achieved a...
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...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 29, 2023 | Israel, Judges, Leadership, Responsibility
By Rabbi Elie Mischel Othniel, the first judge of Israel described in the book of Judges, was a courageous warrior and military leader. When Caleb, the aging leader of the tribe of Judah, sought a younger man to lead the men of Judah in battle, Othniel volunteered:...
