Passover is behind us, but this week’s parsha gives us the opportunity to reflect on a question that may have come up at our Seder.  Why did the birth of our nation take place after being in Egypt for over 200 years? Rabbi Shalom Rosner, in his collection of essays on the parsha entitled Shalom Rav, quotes the answer of Rav Yosef Ber Soloveitchik (1903 -1993, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University, NYC), “Why could we not rise as a people on our own land, in prosperity and abundance?  The answer is simple.  If our morality was to be one of kindness and Chesed, it could not ..read more

There is an interesting TikTok phenomenon going on right now of people asking/answering the following question:  If your daughter was alone in the wilderness, would you rather that she encounter a bear or an unknown man?  It seems like a straightforward question, but you might be surprised to hear that a sizable majority of people say that they would prefer that their daughter encounter the bear.  People point out that a bear might only eat you if it’s hungry, while a man’s intentions could be nearly anything… It is a sad commentary on the nature of human beings that we cause m ..read more

This past Saturday night, Israel was bombarded by a combination of more than 300 Cruise Missiles, Ballistic Missiles and Attack Drones. More than 99% of them were intercepted by a combination of Israeli and allied forces. When I first heard about it, it was after the attack had ended and I already knew that minimal damage had occurred. My reaction was a little routine. The Iron Dome and the other defensive weapons did their job. It is normal. I almost took it for granted. After I read a post by Maximilian Abitbol, a professor of astrophysics at Oxford University, who has worked in the defence ..read more

Parshat Tazria deals with the mysterious ailment of tzaraat. Though often translated into English as something similar to leprosy, it is unclear what this skin-whitening condition actually is. One thing, though, is clear. The cause of tzaraat is spiritual, rather than physical. In fact, Chazal (our sages) generally assume one particular cause – lashon hara (roughly translated as improper speech). Many commentators even note that the word metzora (one who suffers from tzaarat itself) is an acronym of motzei shem ra – one who indulges in&nbs ..read more

There was this ring tone on phones when I was a kid called the “mosquito.”  It was designed to be such a high pitch that adults couldn’t hear it, only kids could.  It was a great way to send messages to other kids that you didn’t want adults in the room (like your teacher) to notice.  Not that I’m admitting to performing any such antics myself of course. It’s fascinating that such a thing can even exist.  You see, our ears have tiny hairs that detect different types of sound.  As we are exposed to enough loud noises in life, those hairs slowly die, and the range of sou ..read more

The recent motion that was passed in the House of Commons stopping arms supplies to Israel and reinstating funding for UNWRA, is certainly very alarming. We are motivated to strengthen our efforts to increase awareness of the truth about Hamas and of the Jewish people’s right to live in Israel. At the same time, it should be a wake-up call to recognize that we cannot rely on the Canadian government or any government or individual to ensure our existence. This lesson can be found in the Megillah, in the story of Purim. When Mordechai discovers Haman’s plot to commit genocide and kill all the Je ..read more

If you found out on Sunday that Monday was actually a stat holiday, would you be disappointed in the extra time off?  If you were waiting in a long line to get into an amusement park, would you be sad  if the manager came out and had you skip the line so you could get in sooner? On the other hand, you might well get annoyed if your flight is delayed and you are stuck in an airport for an extra hour.  In this week’s Torah portion, Vayakel, it says: Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day, it shall be holy, a Shabbos to Hashem… Shemos 35:2 The word “Shabbos” is precede ..read more

Nothing stays the same forever. Dynasties come and go, fortunes come and go. Economies go up and down and so do interest rates. How do we protect ourselves from the changes and ensure that we will have what we need? This week’s Parsha, Ki Sisa, starts with instructions for Moshe to count the people by everyone giving a half shekel for the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The Hebrew word for and they shall give, is  וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ . The spelling and cantillation of the word provides us with insights into the proper attitude we should have for giving. The Baal Haturim points out that the word is a p ..read more

Parshat Tetzaveh contains a fascinating collection of mitzvot related to the bigdei kehuna the clothes that the kohanim, priests, wore. But what exactly is this mitzvah all about? Rav Binyamim Tabory analyzes several different positions on this throughout the Jewish tradition: Rav Saadia Gaon argues that the only formal mitzvah around is a communal one. The community must come together to make the garments that the kohanim wear. Maimonides writes that the mitzvah is for the kohanim to wear the garments and that the community making the garments is only a preparation for that mitzvah, but not ..read more

It’s the year 1950.  You board a train in the frigid Russian winter headed to an important meeting you have in Poland.  One of your gloves falls off your hand to the tracks below.  You could get off the train to get your glove, missing the meeting and losing whatever you spent on the ticket.  Or, you could stay where you are seated, taking a journey of hundreds of miles in an unheated train without one of your gloves. What would you do? When Rabbi Yisrael Salanter faced this dilemma, he took off his second glove, and tossed it onto the track by the first.  He reasoned ..read more