To raise a Tzadik, parents must themselves live by the values they wish to convey to their children. Otherwise, the children will quickly realize that the parents are not sincere, not truthful, not worthy of emulation. What’s true of parents and children is also true of rabbis, teachers, and everyone else who wishes to impact on others. Good role models help generate good followers. Bad role models generate negative results.
Devarim Rabba places Isaiah alongside Moses as the greatest of the prophets (2:4). Isaiah has a central standing among the prophets of Israel and it is noteworthy that the most common epithet for God that Isaiah uses is K’dosh Yisrael “The Holy One of Israel” (Is 1:4). According to Isaiah and most of the other classical prophets, holiness is articulated in terms of social justice and political ethics.
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God could have created Adam from precious metals, from stardust, or from pure spirit but chose rather to use dust of the ground. From dust we learn humility...but also self-respect.
The unprecedented pogrom of November 9-10, 1938 in Germany has passed into history as Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass). Violent attacks on Jews and Judaism throughout the Reich and in the recently annexed Sudetenland began on November 8 and continued until November 11 in Hannover and the free city of Danzig, which had not then been incorporated into the Reich.
With the Fall season underway, Rabbi Hayyim Angel returns to a robust schedule of Adult Education classes.
On Tuesday, September 16, from 8:00-9:00 pm Eastern Time, Rabbi Hayyim Angel will teach a Zoom class on Jeremiah chapter 31, the Haftarah for the Second Day of Rosh HaShanah. This class is sponsored by Ben Porat Yosef Yeshiva Day School of Paramus, New Jersey. It is free and open to the public.
Rabbi Hayyim Angel introduces a new column on the weekly Torah reading. He invites us not only to study sacred text but to listen to the many voices through which Torah has been understood across the generations. We will explore the parashah through paired perspectives: the classical teachings of our Sages and the medieval exegetes alongside literary and historical insights from modern scholarship.
Abraham’s shofar symbolizes thoughts and feelings that go beyond words.. But it is precisely in the realm of wordlessness that we reveal our true selves. This is true in our relationship with others, in our relationship with God…and in our own self-understanding.
This essay by Rabbi Benzion Uziel, and translated by Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, is entitled “You Shall Love Truth and Peace.” It originally appeared in Rabbi Uziel's classic work of Jewish thought Hegyonei Uziel (volume 2, pages 33–34). It is one of his most eloquent statements on unity, and beautifully encapsulates his creative blend of classic rabbinic scholarship with responsible leadership.
This article discusses some cases, reflective of the educational approach of many religious schools and individuals, that are symptomatic of serious problems in the way our community transmits Torah teachings. The fundamentalist, literalist position—so vehemently criticized by Rambam—still holds sway among many Orthodox Jews.