Faculties and Talents

If Moses would have crossed the Jordan, that would have been the end: the end of the struggle, the end of history . . .

In the portion of Vaetchanan, we are introduced to the Shema, the second verse of which begins with the command: “And you should love G‑d . . . ” When it comes to loving, you either do or don’t. You cannot be made to love. How then do we fulfill this comm...

In our nation's 3,300 year history, G‑d has directly addressed us exactly once. In doing so, G‑d also left us a perfect prototype to follow on those occasions when we really want our words to be taken seriously...

On the Shema and the discipline of listening.

The two enlarged letters in the Shema reveal the mission of the Jewish people and the fusion of faith and knowledge.

“What have you been doing for the last year?” asked the incensed father-in-law. “What have you accomplished wasting your time by those wild men?” “I learned that G‑d creates the world,” answered the young man.

Though we truly believe in the one and only G-d, yet when life throws us a curve ball and things aren’t working out the way we were hoping, we tend to blame random circumstances. Everything that happens in our lives come from Hashem, and we need to consta...

The sacred words of the Shema have been recited throughout the ages and in the darkest of times of Jewish history. Shema means to listen. Sadly, in today’s day and age we have lost the art of listening. This week’s message highlights the importance of rea...