Month: September 2024
There’s a story I heard once about a religious man who got into a taxi in Israel. As often happens, the driver struck up a conversation. “I can tell you’re religious,” the cab driver said. “I have a friend who became religious through a crazy story.” He continued: “My friend and I served in the…
How many times have you overlooked your own brilliance because it’s simply become your “normal”? Most people don’t realize that the very things they do daily, without thought, could be extraordinary in someone else’s eyes. When I used to travel for my work with Ford dealerships, I’d visit Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories of Canada.…
Along this journey, I’ll be sharing not only the lessons I’ve learned but also the challenges and experiences that shaped me into who I am today. It’s all part of my growth—because it’s through these moments that I’ve found deeper meaning, embraced change, and aligned myself with the path of Torah to live the best…
Ever notice that the further something gets from its origin, the less we value it? I see this all the time, in the simplest things—from how we spend money to how we experience the world around us. It’s like the value fades the more distant we are from what it really is at its core.…
As a child, Rosh Hashana felt like an endless marathon of prayers. I’d sit on an uncomfortable folding chair in the overflow section of the social hall, which they’d open up to accommodate the extra crowd for the Yamim Noraim. Fidgeting in my seat, I’d flip through the machzor, counting the pages left, then cutting…
There’s a powerful line we sing in Shabbos zemer “Ma Yedidut”. When singing about the beauty of Shabbat, we say “Kashoshanim suga,”, Shabbat is “like roses that are fenced in.” Think about that—a rose, fragile and beautiful, needs a fence to protect it. Shabbos is no different. It’s sacred not just because of what it…
Years ago, I was faced with a daunting realization: every Jewish man has the obligation to learn the entire Torah. For someone like me, who wasn’t the strongest learner growing up, this felt like trying to scale a mountain without training. But what if I told you that sometimes the biggest accomplishments come not from…
In Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Tarfon said: “The day is short, the work is great, the workers are lazy, the reward is abundant, and the Master of the house is pressing.”רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן אוֹמֵר, הַיּוֹם קָצָר וְהַמְּלָאכָה מְרֻבָּה, וְהַפּוֹעֲלִים עֲצֵלִים, וְהַשָּׂכָר הַרְבֵּה, וּבַעַל הַבַּיִת דּוֹחֵק We often think we have all the time in the world. “I’ll…
We’re all being lied to constantly. It’s everywhere—on our screens, in our schools, and in government. But once the glass is shattered, you start seeing it all over the place. The only truth is the Torah. The Torah has all the answers. The Torah gives us our values and tells us how to live. Pirkei…
