Life

Why does every normal person, regardless of his professed philosophy, regard human life as valuable?

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and the essence of Jewish mysticism

Are you hero or victim? The hero who never cries nor feels the fear, the panic, the regrets that are part and parcel of his condition? The victim who never encounters his bravery nor feels the transcendent power of rising above death, if only for a ...

You existed before you were born, and you're not going to be doing anything useful for a while; so what, exactly, are we celebrating?

The events recounted in the Torah section of Chayei Sarah all take place after Sarah's death. Not only that -- they seem to all underscore the fact of her demise. Yet "Chayei Sarah" means "the life of Sarah"!

"Our father Jacob did not die," said Rabbi Yochanan. Asked Rabbi Yitzchak: "Was it for no reason that the eulogizers eulogized, the embalmers embalmed, and the buriers buried?"

From every incident in a person's life, one can acquire profound insight into the service of the Creator. So says the holy Baal Shem Tov. Fortified by this idea, I began my descent in the morgue elevator of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at ...

How the First Commandment, "I Am the L-rd your G-d", and the Sixth Commandment, 'Do not kill", are one and the same

"Portion", "lot" and "inheritance" in our relationship with the Land, in the daily choices of life, and in our our identity as G-d's "Chosen People"