Jealousy in the Torah לֹא תַחְמֹד בֵּית רֵעֶךָ לֹא תַחְמֹד אֵשֶׁת רֵעֶךָ וְעַבְדּוֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ וְשׁוֹרוֹ וַחֲמֹרוֹ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר לְרֵעֶךָ Do not covet your fellow’s house. Do not covet your fellow’s wife, or his servant […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz When Yitro arrived in the desert to join the Jewish People, he criticized Moshe (Moses)’s handling of the court system and offered him […]
Fear at Sinai This week’s Torah reading, Parshat Yisro, depicts the awesome event of the Jews receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. It was a frightening experience, with a lot […]
One of the Ten Commandments, mentioned in Parshas Yisro, is the commandment to keep Sabbath. The verses say (20:9-10), “Six days you shall labor and complete all your work. And […]
Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Tu B’Shvat, the new year for trees, in the winter? Tu B’Shvat is all about celebrating the rebirth of the trees bursting with […]
Tu Bishvat: A time to ponder Tu Bishvat is a time to ponder the great kindness of the fruit trees that Hashem bestows upon us. However, we find a reference […]
Tu B’shvat, as the day G-d judges the trees, is the perfect time to celebrate the plentiful fruits and vegetables with which we are blessed. Dried fruit is an especially popular […]
This week’s Torah reading begins by telling us that Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, heard about the great experiences the Jews had experienced since they left Egypt and was inspired to join […]
What does it mean to be a Jew? When I describe myself as a Jew, what does that really mean? It is readily apparent that none of the normal categories […]
A Miraculous Change of Heart In this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Bo, prior to the Jews being liberated, the Torah relates a surprising fact. The Torah tells us (Shemot 11:3,12:36) […]
If Looks Could Kill Years ago, I remember upsetting my brother. Now, that wasn’t so memorable, because I was the annoying kid brother and he was the annoyed big brother. […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz The world is in shock over the wildfires raging in California, where lives have been lost and the destruction is nothing short of […]
Why Did God Inflict Disaster? In this week’s Torah reading, God commanded Moshe (Moses), time after time, to strike the land of Egypt with plagues, as a consequence for Pharaoh’s […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz I often perform mitzvot (Torah commandments) without much thought or meaning, like I’m just going through the motions. Do such mitzvot still count? […]
A Sign of Laxity? In this week’s Torah reading, Moshe (Moses) approaches Pharaoh and tells him to free the Jews from their slavery. Pharaoh refuses to do this, and in […]
Chesed Shel Emet – Kindness to the Dead In the beginning of this week’s Torah reading, Yaakov (Jacob) summoned his son Yosef (Joseph) and requested of him to do “kindness […]
< Lesson 17: Dessert and Cleanup – Muktzah, Borer, and More Lesson 18: How to Make Havdalah Introduction to the Havdalah Service Welcome to Lesson 18: How to Make Havdalah. […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz Oorah’s new song, “Hashem Needs Every Yid (God Needs Every Jew),” has become an international sensation. But isn’t that heretical? Since Hashem is […]