Parashat Lech Lecha 5782: Undertaking New Journeys B”H Rabbi Daniela Szuster This week’s parashah begins with a difficult order: “Adonai said to Abraham, “Lech lecha”, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Bereshit 12:1). God commanded Abraham to abandon his land, his place
A Sukkah for All Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky This Shabbat is Chol Hamoed Sukkot, one of the intermediate days of the festival. We don’t read one of the weekly Torah sections on this Shabbat, but a special reading related to the festival of Sukkot. Therefore, on this occasion I would like to offer a message appropriate
The Festival of Sukkot, God’s Protection and the Benefit of Hugging B”H Rabbi Daniela Szuster We are going to start to celebrate the festival of Sukkot this Monday evening, September 20th. During seven days, we eat, drink, have conversations with family and friends, read and some people sleep in a temporary structure, or hut, known
Sincere Repentance By Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky There is a beautiful paragraph on this week’s parasha, Nitzavim, that reads, “Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up
Lifnim Mishurat Hadin / Beyond the letter of the law By Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky Some people see Judaism as a religion of precise law. However, the Jewish ideal is always to act beyond the letter of the law, or lifnim mishurat hadin in Hebrew, literally meaning, inside the line of law. Let’s see an example
Judging Ourselves in the Month of Elul B”H Rabbi Daniela Szuster This week we read Parashat Shofitm, which begins by saying: “You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice.” (Deuteronomy 16:18) If you