This week’s parasha, Vayera, carries a powerful theme of continuity. It speaks explicitly about our role as a link in the chain, urging...

Lech Lecha Go forth from your land, from the place of your birth, from your father’s home to the land I will show you. I will give this...

The two predominant stories in this week’s parashah, the well-known story of Noah and the equally famous tale of the Tower of Babel,...

Sukkot, unlike the rest of the pilgrimage festivals, does not commemorate any specific historical event. On Sukkot, we rather celebrate...

It was the time between Musaf and Mincha on Yom Kippur, and young Daniel Shapiro went to see his Rabbi. "Rabbi Pollak, you must help me....

Gathering once again in this beautiful Sanctuary, in this Beit Kneset, a house of assembly for so many years and a synagogue that has...

On a flight to Buenos Aires, I once met a man who hugged me as if we had known each other our whole lives. I looked at him, and he...

A wealthy man left his office at the end of the day, as he usually did, and encountered a panhandler asking for alms.   "Five dollars in...

It is said that we should read the Torah trying to find some kind of connection with our daily lives, so that it becomes relevant and...

There are passages in the Torah that are very clear and hardly need to be interpreted in the light of our times. It should be enough to...

Next Monday evening, Tuesday and Wednesday is Rosh Chodesh – the new moon. Now, the moon begins to wax again. Being in tune with the...

In our weekly parashah, Ekev, there are many precepts and commandments that Moses conveys to the people before leaving them beyond the...

"Ushmartem va'asitem ki hi chokhmatchem uvinatchem le'einei kol ha'amim asher yishme'un et kol hachukim ha'ele." "We shall keep and do,...

Today we begin the last of the books of the Torah, Devarim or Deuteronomy, in which, as we have studied repeatedly, Moses begins his...

This week we read two Parshiot: Parshat Matot and Parshat Masaei, thus concluding the fourth book of the Torah: Sefer Bamidbar. Parashat...

Let's recall the story of Pinchas, the priest who gave his name to the Parasha, the section of the Torah that we read this Shabbat and...

Parashat Balak is the one where a prophet or sorcerer, who is not a member of the people of Israel, is tasked with cursing the people of...

Parashat Chukat is a complicated parashah. It is the parashah in which Moses receives his punishment, which prevents him from entering...

Who is Korach? Korach is that member of the people of Israel who, with all his material wealth, believes he can dazzle the people. He...

There is a Japanese technique called kintsukuroi that celebrates the history of broken objects. When something breaks, we often regret...