Essays
Mikeitz: Fanning the Flames
The Unplugged version of Samech Vov asks the relevant question: How does one’s fire remain when the inspiration begins to dim?
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Lamps and Lives
The verses in Parshat Beha’alotecha specify two laws of the menorah corresponding to two visions of man provided by Rashi and Nachmanides.
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Vayelech: A Year In Perspective
As we enter the new year, this essay reflects on the past year, the lessons learned, challenges encountered and meaning made…
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By the Rivers of Babylon
This is an essay on the psalm By the Rivers of Babylon in light of the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein, global antisemitism, and Jewish mystical thought.
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In Search of Eden
There are many angles to understand the war in Iraq. But the true war today is driven by the angst of man in search of Eden. This is an essay on the connection between redemption, the Persian gulf, and Purim.
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In an Earthen Vessel
Deeper significance of the laws of the sotah (“wayward wife”) in Parshat Naso. Life is a marriage of body & soul – female & male perspectives on reality.
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Vayeishev: Psychology Today
The Alter Rebbe’s take on popular psychological opinion- tackling Freud and Darwin from a Torah perspective.
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Vayeitzei: Balance
The Torah chapters from the beginning of Genesis outline the story of our life’s mission and from here we can learn much about ourselves…
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Toldot: Mixing G-d and Politics
A response to the thousands of emails written about the previous essay which discussed the notions of “conservative” and “liberal” belief in America…
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Simchat-Torah: From Chickens to Vegetables
As we move right along from fauna to flora, from swirling chickens before Yom Kippur to thrusting shrubs on Sukkot, the holidays have an organic nature…
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