More than what he was saying, it was his face that caught my attention. Flicking on the television absent-mindedly as I was getting dressed for a wedding, I came across the middle of a program on what, after a moment, I realized was a story from the Second Lebanon War. more

The Talmud in Kiddushin (40b) has a fascinating passage describing the merits process, which is quite applicable to this time of year. more

Editor’s note: With a double parsha this week and the calendar edging closer towards Rosh Hashana, we present a second Torah column. Rabbi Etengoff is dedicating the following dvar Torah in memory of his sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra, and the refuah shlaimah of Yosef Shmuel ben Miriam. more

There is a mystical idea, which suggests, that hidden within every fire of destruction is the spark of redemption. Such, for example, was the case on Aug. 3, 1492, which was also the Ninth of Av, the anniversary of the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem. On that day, the Inquisition was imposed on the 250,000 Spanish Jews, faced with the choice of expulsion, conversion or death. more

Moshe’s goodbye speech that is the book of Devarim contains a number of references to the fact that he will not accompany the people into the Promised Land. He talks about how he requested, knelt, pleaded before G-d to be given a chance to enter the land — if only for a short time — and how each request was summarily rejected. more

Some of the curses in the tokhacha are meant to hit so close to home. Verses 28:29-33 describe how some things we might take for granted could easily be unequivocally stripped from us. more

Teaching in the old city of Jerusalem, one develops awareness for the different types of people that can wander in off the street. Many of the people who frequent the old alleyways of Jerusalem are incredible people with incredible stories. We once had a fellow wander in who was absolutely convinced that he was King David. more

When you are up high on top of the mountain, it becomes much easier to see where you are going; everything seems so clear, and often the view is breathtaking. In the valley, on the other hand, the high walls of the mountains obscure where you really are, and it is much easier to get lost. more

Chapter 23, verses 2-4 list a number of male types who may not enter “k’hal Hashem,” the community of G-d. On a simple level, the verses seem strange. The first two individuals – men who have become sterile on account of external, or unnatural incidents – are likely Jewish men. As is the “mamzer,” the product of two Jewish people who participated in a Torah-forbidden relationship. Don’t they enter the community of G-d the moment they are born? more

Two words; two chilling words, that have haunted a generation of Israelis, Jews, and innocents around the world, were heard yet again, piercing the peaceful quiet of the Negev desert this past week, as all too suddenly, a quiet peaceful afternoon suddenly filled with the screams of the dying and the wounded as Arab Hamas-sponsored terrorists once again targeted the innocent in a horrific series of attacks. more