Lech Lecha Parshah Columnists

When you choose to believe despite the viable, easy, and rational justifications, then you’re a true believer.

The women in Abraham’s family were abducted (or nearly abducted) no less than four times . . .

On rare days, we coast along at the top of our game. On the bad days, we tumble out of control into a valley of problems and issues. Most days, we sit in traffic and question if we are moving at all...

On closer inspection, it seems more akin to ecology than to ethical monotheism... yet this one elegant idea developed by a child some 3,800 years ago, has transformed the world forever

He doesn't understand; there's pain and hurt. And appreciation for all the symbolism, tradition and meaning are still many years away...

Abraham’s mission was to explore the final frontier. Only there would he find his innermost identity. (parsha perks with Dr. Chighel | Lech Lecha)

Why should a person get up and leave – even if he is promised blessing and success – if there is seemingly no rhyme or reason for doing so? Nullifying the “why” is the challenge here, the true test of the trial of lech lecha.

It is surprising to say that Abraham was concerned about his reward, when Maimonides singles out Abraham as a paragon of serving G‑d “purely out of love.”

The first to understand the power of branding was G‑d.

Abram’s physical journey was a symbol of his spiritual journey.

A shadchan suggested a young lady to a fellow and absolutely raved about her. After their first date, the fellow calls up the matchmaker and gives him a piece of his mind. "How dare you introduce me to such a girl, didn't you know she limps?" Quite unflustered, the shadchan retorts, "But, what's the problem, it's only when she walks..."

We Jews have never been into numbers.

The commentators explain Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, as signifying Reason on the one hand, and the Jewish dimension beyond Reason...

We all should ask this question: Somewhere beneath the vestments I wear and the roles I play lurks the real me, what does he look like? Who is he?

Her thoughtfulness changed all that; it turned our causal encounter into a meaningful exchange. I realized that she was a real person and not just a passing prop on the stage of my life...

Who is the true spiritual leader? Is it the venerable sage who sits alone, nose buried in an ancient tome, or the fellow on the streets, who guides the perplexed and who mentors seeking souls?

The extraordinary message expressed by circumcision is what caused it to rise to the top of the list of rituals our enemies sought to eradicate time and again throughout our history. But what is this message?

In a final summation of Sarah’s life, the Torah tells us two things—that she was beautiful and that she had a flawless character—her two great qualities juxtaposed.

The information the Torah “neglects” to tell us regarding Abraham and Sarah’s youth teaches a lesson about our spiritual journey through life.

Abraham was motivated by a love of truth, a fiery will and an aspiration to bring pleasure to his Creator. Seemingly he would be the last person to demand wealth and fame as rewards for his efforts!

I’m not collecting trophies or notches on my belt . . .

So why should Abraham express remorse for his worship of the sun? It was that worship that brought him to the truth. It was his only path to the truth. If he had not taken that path, he could never have become Abraham, our father, the man who took on the entire world and turned it upside down.

Whatever you do, do it for real. There is no other way to find truth.

Every journey leads in one direction: Towards within.

Our destiny is determined, with one exception: Will we be the spectators, or the heroes?

From all the generations before us we inherited a wealth of dreams. Our generation’s mandate—and destiny—is to make the dream real.

Unlike mice, maple trees and angels, who are content to be what and where they are, the human being is constantly "on the go", forever striving to get somewhere, preferably somewhere where no one has been before. The problem is, there's nowhere left to go

The very unnaturalness of galut, its very strangeness, is at the root of all that the Jew has accomplished and achieved, both for himself and for the world....

When you’re feeling distraught, what do you do to calm yourself? Do you try a new experience or do you revert to what is familiar to you?

Even when we are experiencing our personal famines, our relationship with G‑d is still present and accessible.

Is money good or bad? Is it only a means to an end, or is there some intrinsic spirtiual component to money that makes it so powerful?

What influence does your name have on you--on your personality, on your behavioral patterns and on your life choices? Or does it?

Leaders lead. That does not mean to say that they don’t follow. But what they follow is different from what most people follow.