system

בס”ד Volume 40, No. 29 22 Iyar 5786 May 9, 2026 Sponsored by Elaine Taragin in memory of beloved husband Jerome Taragin a”h The Rutstein… Read More »The Land’s Real Beauty

When my wife and I first walked into our apartment in Israel, we were struck by the absence of something that we had taken for… Read More »Something We Can Call ‘Our Own’

Fire and thick clouds descended on Mount Sinai as millions of Jewish people trembled in awe at the foot of the mountain. And then the… Read More »Small Coincidences

You shall take on the first day…[2] A medrash[3] asks: “Is it the first day? In fact, it is the fifteenth [of the month]! Rather,… Read More »What First Day?[1]

This is not a perfect world. Nothing new so far. It is a perfectly imperfect world. Okay, that may be new to some, but it… Read More »Perfect?

This week we read the parsha of Emor which begins with different restrictions that apply to the kohanim {priests} and to the animals that would… Read More »Holy Bread

The Torah tells us in this week’s parsha, “u’shmartem es mitzvosai, v’aseesem osum — watch the mitzvos and do them” (Vayikra 22:31). What does watch… Read More »Mitzvah Vigilante

…and you should love your neighbor as yourself… (Vayikra 19:18) – Rabbi Akiva says, this is the general principle of the Torah, – Talmud How… Read More »The Torah Continues

You shall be holy, because I, Hashem your G-d, am holy.[2] A wonderful challenge! But what, exactly, is holiness, and where do we find it?… Read More »Setting Sights Lower[1]

בס”ד Volume 40, No. 27 8 Iyar 5786 April 25, 2026 Sponsored by the Vogel family on the yahrzeit of grandmother Blanche Vogel (Bluma bat… Read More »Great Principles