In an age before electricity, having light at night was no simple matter. While various forms of…
Election Fever
Once again we are in the midst of election fever. The upcoming (recently past when this is read) US…
To Forget Is Human: Shabbat 12
Human nature is to be forgetful, even in the midst of doing something. This human frailty is what…
Shabbat 10: In Your Court
While the prelude to the giving of the Torah is the establishment of a court system (see Shemot 18…
Shabbat 10a: Stop Praying Already
Two of our most fundamental mitzvoth are those of Tefillah, prayer and Talmud Torah…
Shabbat 6: The Hidden Scrolls
When discussing the transition of torah sheba’al peh from knowledge that was transmitted orally to…
Shabbat 3: Timely Questions
I had the privilege of learning in Rav Herschel Schachter’s shiur at Yeshiva University for four…
Breisheet: The Descent of Man
The creation narrative has the world in beautiful harmony. Heaven and earth, sky and water, sun…
Shabbat 2: Waiting Outside
Much of Masechet Brachot deals with non-legal matters - extolling the importance of prayers and…
Simchat Torah: Two Days or One?
This week’s d'var Torah is sponsored in honour of the 80th birthday of Bashi (Esther) Burack by her…
Brachot 61: For a Worthy Cause
The story of the martyrdom of Rabbi Akiva is well known. Defying the orders of the Roman government…
Brachot 59: What a Blessing
One of the most well known blessings is that of dayan haemet, the blessing said upon the…
Sukkot: Leaving Home
"And you shall take for yourself on the first day a beautiful fruit of the tree, an unopened palm…
Brachot 55: Turning Dreams into Reality
The Talmud spends quite a number of pages discussing dreams. Taking their cue from the Bible itself…
Brachot 50: Gratitude
“From the blessings of man, we see if he is a scholar or not”. How, and more…
Tax Evasion
No one likes to pay taxes. Yet taxes are the lifeblood of our society, paying for our security,…
Yom Kippur: The Month After
“For the sin we committed by wronging a neighbour, for the sin we committed by bribery, for the sin…
Brachot 47b: We Are All Am Ha'aratzim
The term am ha'aretz has come to mean an ignorant Jew, and is generally used in a pejorative…