Category: The United States

  • Moses & True Humility

    True humility is not being quiet and living a sheltered life. True humility is that when we take on a leadership position, we remember that it not about me but getting the job done and not caring who gets credit.

  • The Reason for Freedom

    Getting the Jews out of Egypt was easy job. The hard job was to make the Jews into a nation.

  • Our Leaders Are Not Gods

    פרשת ניצבים / כ”ד באלול תשפ”ב

    The admonition not be like the idol worshipers of Egypt was to stress that our leaders are not like the Pharoah. He was considered to be a god. Our leaders are human and should be treated as such.

  • The Constitution & The Bible

    פרשת שופטים / ה’ באלול תשפ”ב

    In this week’s portion we learn about the Biblical limits on the king. It is no accident that they match the limitations imposed on the American presidency in the US Constitution. It is important to remember that the most quoted book at the Constitutional Convention was the Book of Deuteronomy.

  • A God-Fearing Society

    פרשת ואתחנן – י”ד באב תשפ”ב

    Moses stresses that what we consider civil laws are really religiously basted law. That if the basis of law in a society is not God then the laws will break down and the results will be a dictatorship or anarchy, as we see from the difference in the results of the American and French Revolutions.

  • Be Just in Your Judgements

    פרשת דברים / ד’ באב תשפ”ב

    The commandment to appoint judges is one of the most important for a just society. Moses commands the judges that they have to be just in their decisions. They cannot favor one party over the other, neither rich nor poor, neither the powerful nor the powerless,

  • The American Roots of Israel

    פרשת חקת / ה’ בתמוז תשפ”ב

    When the Vilna Gaon (d. 1797) read the American Constitution, he was convinced that the redemption was beginning. Article 6 states that there be no religious test to hold office in the US. This meant that Jews were full and equal citizens of the country. This was unheard of before then. The Zionist movement can be traced to the Vilna Gaon’s understanding of US Constitution.

  • The US is Not Just Another Country

    פרשת חוקה / ד’ בתמוז תשפ”ב

    The Hebrew translation of the name of the US does not translate as “the United States” but as The Lands of the Agreement”. Hebrew is the only language that translates the US in this way. It is a recognition the US is not just another country but unique in the world with a special mission.