Parshah Columnists

Perhaps you don’t deserve it, but neither did our fathers in Egypt—and G‑d was there for them. He’ll be there for you, too.

Killing the foal seems so pointless. What possible good could come of it?

When you’re able to “see” another person and revel in the positivity and unity it brings, it will automatically make you better, as well.

What is the significance of the Passover holiday taking place around thetime of the full moon?

How an everyday dough boy gets to be a mystical matzah man

So what’s with the blood on the doors?

How do we break free of our limitations, when those limitations have their way of imposing themselves upon us, like it or not? Can we just wish reality away?

Just as there are first fruits of the soil, there are also first deeds and first dreams. Here as well, people become more sophisticated as they mature, as do their aspirations and dreams. Nevertheless, there is a special significance to one’s first dreams.

Judaism seeks to transform each and every home into a place of spirituality, holiness, peace and tranquility.

To an ancient Greek or a Hindu, passive stillness is masculine, activity and motion are feminine. To a Taoist, action is masculine and passiveness is feminine. In other words, if it is a virtue it is masculine. The Jew turns the pyramid on its head

The fact is, if it's philosophy someone else has also thought it; if it's a legend or myth, some other people have a story with a lot of strong parallels. After all, we're all talking about the same world from within the same bodies... Except for one, very enigmatic story

You can hide it enough so it doesn't embarrass you in public. You can pretty it up so that others are not as annoyed with it. You can try to ignore its whelps and howls when it gets out of hand. But can you free yourself of your ego?

Once upon a time, time was round. Then somehow we straightened it out, put an arrow on the end and took it for a ride. Now let me tell you how it happened . . .

Our ancestors had spent 210 years in Egypt. They couldn’t wait a few more hours? Why the mad rush?

It is not enough to let our people go. We have to take them somewhere.

Only after you have fully understood what is oppressing the individual can you hope to succeed in providing the solutions for her liberation.

Every once in a while, the miracle just stares me in the eye and it becomes too hard to ignore.

The Jewish nation seems small and weak, but this is actually the key to our greatness. It allows us to reflect G‑d’s quintessential light to the world.

Do we dismiss our child's issues as insignificant? Do we reassure him that this "little" incident will pass, without validating what he is experiencing, in this moment?

Is it fair to punish Pharaoh, if his refusal to recognize G‑d is forced upon him -- by G‑d Himself? Doesn't G‑d grant free will?

Time and place are two fundamental coordinates of life, and, in particular, of Jewish life and teaching. The unity of the Jewish calendar is a remarkable expression of the unity of the Jewish people.

The lunar calendar must have a special quality beyond its specific function, a pervasive characteristic, to merit its beginning Jewry’s service of G‑d.

Imagine coming home one day, taking the beloved idiot box and throwing it out the window. Now, picture doing that when you work for the networks, and your boss came over to watch the news with you . . .

Imagine the scene. The Jews are still slaves in Egypt, and now for the very first time ever they will hear a Torah lesson. And it's about the moon. The moon?! Is that what's on the agenda?

A human king sits indoors, and his servants guard him from outside. We sleep peacefully in our beds, and G‑d guards us from outside.

The Zohar teaches that the power to oppose G‑d comes conversely from G‑d himself

To be successful in this relentless inner struggle, we need to build up an arsenal of meditations and exercises that strengthen our willpower and self-control.

A debate between Moses and Pharaoh on the topic of: Do children and prayer go together?

As opposed to the other nine plagues, the Plague of Darkness didn't cause any tangible harm. What then was the inner meaning of this unique plague?

Moses and Aaron approach the greatest ruler of that time Pharaoh and demand the release of his most productive and hated slaves. Standing in Pharaoh's court they are intensely, recognizably Jewish in dress and in custom; boldly and proudly they demand their people's rights and they were successful.

We all want the best for our children and hope they make the right choices in life. It's just that too often we're unwilling to expend the effort to model the behavior that we expect of them.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Rosh Hashanah would be regular and Passover punctual? And there would be an absolute guarantee that the World Series and Yom Kippur don't clash...

Though hailing from a 500-year line of rabbis and religious thinkers, trained in traditional Lithuanian yeshivahs and with a Ph.D. in philosophy, he provided almost no systematic grounding in Judaism to his own children.

The greatest darkness is when "a man sees not his fellow"

Nature undergoes fundamental changes in reaction to the solar cycle. With the lunar cycle, however, the only substantial change is in our perception

He led them to the very feet of the giant, opened a secret door in the monster's big toe, took them up a winding passageway to its belly, and showed them how the thing works...

The easiest thing to do would be to get a divorce and follow one path through life, but Jews are notorious for their refusal to accept the easier solution

The source of evil is the independent ego--and the ultimate independence of ego is not the rejection of G‑d but the belief that G‑d's power is one's own.

The best test of a civilization is to see how it treats children, its own and others

A family narrative connects children to something larger than themselves.

Judaism became the religion whose heroes were teachers and whose passion was study.

Now that G‑d has given me ALS, He put me in the darkest of places and I feel that I am handling it well . . .

Keep real. But don't let reality become your master.