Guest Columnists

Practical Insights on the Weekly Torah Portion from Rabbi Joshua B. Gordon.

How G-d shows us that the notion of determining whether or not someone or something is guilty or innocent is almost never as absolute as it may seem.

Why does the Prophet Elisha tell the distraught woman to collect empty pitchers and fill them with oil?

No sinning is good, but sins against our own neighbors are the worst.

The residents of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked sinners both before Abraham was circumcised and after the event. Was it a mere coincidence that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed right after Abraham was circumcised? I don’t think so.

I read how Lot is saved and his wife turns into a pillar of salt. And I search to see my life in these words. I'd rather not see it, of course, as the connection is too intense, too real, too true

Walking the paths of Auschwitz, I began to doubt humanity and its Creator. I felt suspended in a world I could not comprehend...

Sometimes self-sacrifice is not as selfless as it's cracked up to be. Whether the perceived gain is eternal bliss or political propaganda, a famous death can look better than an obscure life...

Abraham planted something in the desert. What he planted is subject to debate, but the lesson we learn is not...

G-d unleashes his wrath on the city of Sodom, but before G-d carries out his plan, Abraham does a most remarkable thing. He attempts to nullify G-d’s decree: “Abraham came forward and said, ‘Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty?’”

"Taking a human life is an absolute no-no. How could Abraham have been willing to kill his own son in cold blood? So what if G-d commanded him--that's no excuse!"

Have you ever made great plans that went down the drain?

As we go through his somewhat contradictory life story, I’ll leave it to you to decide . . .

When the car flips, or flames leap from a crumbling home, there are those ordinary people who do extraordinary things. What is the process?

Sometimes, doing our bit means going out of our tent, our comfort zone, and demonstrating our determination to do all we can to turn that hope into our reality.

Does your name define you? Do you know what your name means? Would you consider it a goal to live up to the meaning of your name? My English name is Stacey, the meaning of which is not fit to print in a Jewish magazine...