Yaakov Brawer

Galut seems an impossible reality: impossible to comprehend, and impossible to overcome

He had his tallit over his shoulder and was obviously preparing for prayer. I gave him little thought until three and a half hours later when I got ready to leave for home. He was standing in the same place with his tallit still over his shoulder...

People intuitively equate "normal" with good. In fact, normal is very bad. A person achieves normalcy when the molecules that comprised his being are in thermodynamic equilibrium with the environment, which is to say he is dust

She scrutinized me for a few moments and suddenly her face lit up with the wonder of discovery. Her eyes grew wide and she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! there are two of you!"

It is not easy to understand how a world view that leads nowhere and ultimately explains nothing became so rooted in the human psyche

Via modern theater, we can gain insights into the nature of the infinite.

The significance of a car, indeed, the only reason for owning one, is that it moves. For someone who can visualize a car but is incapable of conceptualizing movement, the car exists without meaning or purpose. We can think of the experiences that occupy ...

There are at least four varieties of ignorance (passive ignorance, active ignorance, essential ignorance, and enlightened ignorance) two of which are beneficial; one of these actually supersedes knowledge

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 ...

He screeched to a stop and turned to look back. He saw the edge of the cliff far behind him, and began to realize that he was in major trouble. He slowly looked down and only then, when it was clear to him that he was standing on thin air, did he fall...