When Pigs Will Be Kosher – Parshat Re’eh 2017

Rabbi Howard Schwartz was the spiritual leader of a large congregation in Woodmere, NY and he decided to go to the middle of nowhere for vacation, somewhere his congregants wouldn’t find him. He and his family decided to head to Jackson, WY and stay in the Snow King Mountain Resort, about 20 minutes away from hiking …

Criminal Justice and Slavery – Parshat Mishpatim 2017

My family and I used to occasionally go to see musicals on Broadway. My sister Jennifer is a Broadway musical savant and knows more than I ever will about the subject. But until I graduated from high school, I enjoyed a few shows, too, except Oklahoma, which I did not enjoy at the mature age of 12. …

Fighting the Slave Mentality with Time-Consciousness – Parshat Beshalach 2017

Like many yeshiva high school graduates, I spent a year studying in an Israeli yeshiva before college. However, unlike some of my classmates, I felt a need to do things that connected me with “the outside world” that I had left behind in America. So when I spent a weekend in Beit Shemesh, I made sure to …

Should We Punch Neo-Nazis? – Parshat Va’eira 2017

One of my favorite annual Jewish events is the Salute to Israel Day Parade in New York City. As a Modern Orthodox Jew, there are so many reasons to love the parade: The opportunity to see genuine unity among the various denominations; the proud public celebration of Jewish identity; the fact that schools and shuls are the centerpieces of …

Civil Disobedience in Egypt and Today – Parshat Shemot 2017

The Little Prince landed on a planet in which he found a king sitting on a thrown, completely alone. He asked the king, "Sire-- what do you rule over?" "Over everything", said the king. The Little Prince retorted, "Over everything?”  The king gestured to his planet, the other planets, and all the stars.  "Over all of that?" …

What Makes a Nation ‘Great’ – Parshat Lech Lecha 2016

Have you ever felt unsafe in your own home? Have you ever walked down your home street genuinely afraid of people seeing you, unsure how they would react? This week, there are a lot of people who feel this way.  An American-born woman in Minnesota was walking down the street when a man told her that now …

Empathy is a Jewish Value – Parshat Ki Teitzei 2016

I don’t know why I find ducks to be cute. They’re birds like any other bird, not particularly different from geese, chickens, turkeys, and other poultry. Maybe it was my association with Donald Duck and Daffy Duck, who made me laugh as a child. Maybe there is something endearing about the shape of a duckbill …

Finding Comfort in Faith – Parshat Va’etchanan 2016

We just left Tisha B’Av, a time of division and destruction for the Jewish People, a time when we become sensitive to the senseless hatred that we sometimes take part in. We are also living in a time of great disharmony. We are in the midst of one of the most negative presidential campaign seasons ever in …

Forgiveness is Mercy – Parshat Ki Tisa 2016

Now, I don’t normally quote stories from the Zohar but I found the following story both perplexing and inspiring: Rabbi Abba sees a man sleeping on a pile of rocks at the edge of the cliff. That’s a pretty ominous beginning - you know something is about to go wrong. Well, that’s exactly what happens. …