Metzora
When the world goes nuts, where goes the Jew?
I don’t know about you, but every prediction I have heard since 2011 began has proven false—other than the prediction that every prediction this year will prove false. The morning’s news is filled with surprise and suspense, as though earthquakes have shaken not only the ground and the seas, but the minds of the people and their hearts as well.
When the earth shakes and all about you is in incessant flux, when nothing seems stable and anything could change, what do you hold tight to stay standing?
How about the one thing that stands still: an evergreen tree of life, ever-growing and ever bearing sweet fruit, yet never succumbing to the winds of time or its tremors. In other words, authentic, timeless Torah. Just what we’re serving up here at Chabad.org, in tasty, well-prepared courses for the modern mind.
It’s solid. It’s stable. But it’s alive and it gives life. Those who learn it, discuss it and put it into action bring stability and balance to the entire world. That’s the way it’s always been. And that’s something we could really use right now.
Tzvi Freeman,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
The Jewish year has two “heads”: Tishrei, when we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and Nissan, designated as the “head of the months.”
It wasn’t enough for Passover to fall after the equinox, the “official” spring. Spring-like conditions had to be evidenced.
During the month of Nissan when one sees a blossoming fruit tree, we make a blessing.
Why does the Torah repeat the list of offerings brought by each leader of the tribes of Israel, when all twelve brought exactly the same things?
For some of us, after the Four Questions comes the dreaded fifth: “Cabernet or Chardonnay?”
When you first wake up, you’re a new creation. The seed of everything you must be, of all you must accomplish, is there then. Grab it while you can.
After struggling to find meaning in Judaism—and then looking elsewhere—I discovered a Jewish way of life that I hadn’t known even existed.
The midwives in Egypt were the conduits for the Exodus. They defied Pharaoh’s authority by safely delivering Jewish children.
Suddenly my father stopped short and looked at me. “Why do you sigh? If a man is bound up on high, he doesn't fall down below.”
Sensing a hint of indecision in the doctor’s eyes, the official said: “It is a simple matter of health, Dr. Schreiber. The water is clearly polluted . . .”
The Rebbe demonstrates his miracle-working technique to a group of high-school students.
The remarkable journey of a Torah scroll rescued from Nazi Germany.
Do health and fitness have a place in Judaism? It seems that the secular world encourages a healthy life far more than the Jewish world does.
Why is it that so many of the great books in Torah—including the Talmud—are not written in Hebrew? Does that make them less holy?
There’s something clearly pointing me in a specific direction. How do I know if it's a sign from G‑d, or a test to see whether I can withstand the pressure?
How can the Torah—a system of thought that places emphasis on personal responsibility—allow one Jew to absolve another from sin?
We cannot logically understand the Divine laws of niddah and Family Purity, but we can try to understand them spiritually.
Did you know that it is possible for a person to be murdered and not even know about it?
When love has to overcome a difference, as it does in marriage, it needs energy to leap across and bridge the gap.
Does every cloud really have a silver lining? Is there a blessing in disguise inside every curse?
A purification ritual involving two birds, spring water in an earthen vessel, a piece of cedar wood, a scarlet thread and a bundle of hyssop . . .
The words and the stories of Torah are but its clothing; the guidance within them is its body.
And as with a body, within that guidance breathes a soul that gives life to whoever follows it.
And within that soul breathes a deeper, transcendental soul, the soul of the soul: G‑d Himself within His Torah.
Grasp the clot...
