In a cattle car in Poland, in the summer of 1942, Reb Azriel Dovid Fastag, a composer for the Modzitzer Rebbe, was headed to his death in Treblinka. Over a hundred Jews, forced to stand for days on … more

Pekudei has sometimes been called “The Accountant’s Parsha,” because that is how it begins, with the audited accounts of the money and materials donated to the Sanctuary. It is the … more

Be strong, be strong, and we will be strong! — Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek! The week we read parshat Pekudei, which comprises the concluding chapters of sefer Shemot. As the … more

The Talmud advises that when Adar comes in, we increase in joy. But how can we celebrate when our brothers and sisters in Israel are in danger, displaced, fighting for their lives, besieged and … more

O ur parasha begins with Moshe Rabbeinu gathering the entire Jewish people before him, at which point we would expect some sort of listing of “the things that Hashem commanded to make.” … more

T he Yalkut Shimoni’s opening comment in his Midrashic exposition on Parshas Vayakhel is translated as follows: Vayakhel Moshe, and Moshe gathered: Our Rabbis, the master Aggadists, said … more

Q uite a few years ago, I spent almost every Sunday afternoon in one of the great museums of the city where we then lived. I no longer remember what first stimulated my interest in art, and … more

Melanie Reid, a journalist with The Times of London, is a quadriplegic who, with a wry lack of self-pity, calls her weekly essay Spinal Column. She told how she, her husband, and others in their … more

In 1860, a relatively unknown one-term congressman named Abraham Lincoln stunned the country by prevailing over three prominent rivals — William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates — … more

People are motivated by many things. The search for pleasure is certainly one of the great motivators of human beings. So is the search for power and the search for riches. There are also those among … more