The Spiritual Legacy of the Holocaust

Several stages of the continuing evolution of our nation's comprehension of its greatest tragedy: Rejection of the Diaspora, remembering the victims, and the beginnings of incorporating this indescribable catastrophe into our understanding of G-ds scheme for advancing the world.

Study or Action

The sages of the Mishnah posed the following question: Which is greater, study or practice? “Rabbi Tarphon answered, saying, 'Practice is greater'; Rabbi Akiva answered, saying: 'Study is greater..' Rabbi Eliyahu Brin provides insight.

Study or Action

The sages of the Mishnah posed the following question: Which is greater, study or practice? “Rabbi Tarphon answered, saying, 'Practice is greater'; Rabbi Akiva answered, saying: 'Study is greater..' Rabbi Eliyahu Brin provides insight.

“Joining Forces” on Purim

“The collective body of the Jewish people, which, in the depths of its being, is not separate from Divinity at all” (Rabbi A.I. Kook, Orot Yisrael) is capable of reversing even the deepest and most complete evil, and rectifying it completely.

The Weak Point of the Seventeenth of Tammuz

There is a tendency, on fast days, for people to concentrate upon the calamities of the past and on the stages that led up to the destruction of the Temple. People reflect on the distant past when they aught - says the Rambam - consider the present.

The Structure of the Passover Haggadah

“Had not the Almighty taken our fathers out from Egypt, then we... would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh.” Were it not for the Exodus, history would have simply come to a halt, and we, the Jewish people, would still be enslaved to the same Pharaoh.

The Maharal of Prague: An Introduction

We might very well credit Rabbi Yehudah Liva, the legendary "Maharal of Prague," with being the first to "open the gate" and provide us with a truly penetrating look at the essence of the Sages' homiletical teachings on the Torah - the "Midrash."

Linking the "Ninth" with the "Tenth"

The number ten symbolizes the peak of completeness and community, the height of sanctity. The destruction of the Temple began on the ninth, but it was on the tenth of Av that it reached its fiery peak. On that day, the Savior of Israel was born.

The Flame that Won't be Extinguished

The Flame. Heart of the Nation. A Command and a Pledge. Renewed Inspiration. Rekindled in the Galut.

Parshat Re'e

Jerusalem and Shechem

Two places show two aspects of the holiness of Eretz-Israel: Sechem signifies the nature of the covenant between G-od and Israel and Jerusalem is the center of holiness and Devine Presence.