Parshah Columnists

There’s a reason things happen a certain way, and whether or not we’re in on the plan, there’s a plan nonetheless.

How can we change outward actions into penetrating, moving actions that transform our attitude?

Are you hero or victim? The hero who never cries nor feels the fear, the panic, the regrets that are part and parcel of his condition? The victim who never encounters his bravery nor feels the transcendent power of rising above death, if only for a moment? Neither have bitachon...

The wealthy fellow politely explained how he would love to give but can’t, because he already gave his share of charity for the year . . .

In order to get some intimation of the Infinite One Who is beyond all conception, the mind naturally fills in what is inconceivable with ideas that are logical and comprehensible. A still deeper appreciation of Infinity thus requires a certain hollowing out of the mind.

Are converts looked down upon in Judaism?

How often do we hear the accusation that “Jews only look after their own?”

In a few brush strokes, our Parshah outlines two pictures: one of "Redemption" -- national and individual wholeness; the other of Galut -- fragmentation and conflict

We tend to start out with rosy ideals or images of how good everything is going to be. Then, at some point, for many of us, we are challenged by situations which seem almost unbearable...

Every relationship needs an infusion of tender effort, thought and concern.

It is a little known lowlight of history that the Nazis were avid Judaica collectors. Rather than destroy the artifacts and objets d'art they had captured, they preserved them and actively added to the collection...

Demanding obedience is a card parents often pull as leverage in a power struggle. But have the children learned anything meaningful?

Torah study is the only instance where labor without achievement is rewarded.

The king commanded his coachman to halt at the peasant's door. "How are you enjoying my gift?" he inquired of his beloved subject

For several years now, positive thinking has been in vogue. But the New York Times reports on a group of psychologists who are “worried that we’re not making space for people to feel bad” and advocate a return to the psychologist’s original role of “focusing on mental illness and human failing . . .”

Can a person be as grateful for his troubles as he is for his joys?

Two lost souls, a wealthy businessman and his coachman, arrived in a city one Friday afternoon...

How does Rashi know that the blessing in Eikev is within nature and the blessing in Bechukotai is above nature?