Category: Uncategorized

  • The Mantle of Leadership

    When Joshua is tapped to be the next leader he is afraid that he is not ready. He learns that he is more than ready for the new position. Also, that a leader cannot be his followers friend. Decision have to be made and responsibility has to be taken.

  • Let The Next Leader Lead

    At the end of this week’s portion Moses appoints Joshua to be the new leader. Moses had to leave the scene otherwise he would have undermined Joshua’s leadership. He had to let Joshua lead.

  • Fame is Fleeting, The Torah is Forever

    The message of Ecclesiastes is that the famous are rarely significant and the significant are rare famous. Only the values of the Torah last forever. Everything else doesn’t.

  • Do Right By God & Man

    We are admonished that we cannot believe that God will forgive sins between man and man. But also social action that are not based on the Bible will lead to disaster.

  • Think Before You Act

    The murder of Gedalia was the end of Jewish presence in Judeah under the Babylonians. It was caused by Jews who made common cause with the Ammonites, ignoring the fact that the Ammonites were against any Jewish presence in the Land.

  • God Wants Us To Think

    The story of the binding of Isaac teaches us that, while God wants allegiance, He does not want blind allegiance. He wants us to use the tools that He gave us to make the right decisions based on the Torah.

  • We Are Not Animals

    The reason that we are allowed to repent is that we are humans and not animals. An animal cannot be held responsible for its actions. It does not know right and wrong. We have the Torah that teaches us morality and ethical behavior.

  • We Are All Responsible

    One of the lessons of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy is that when one Jew commits a sin then all are responsible. It a society is immoral then immorality will affect all.

  • It’s the Intent that Matters

    No where in the Bible does it state that God eats our sacrifices. Instead it says that God smells the aroma, meaning that He is looking at our intent. Our prayers are our current form of the sacrifices. Again God is looking at our intent of our prayers.

  • The World’s New Year

    Rosh Hashanah is not the Jewish New Year. It is the world’s. It is the anniversary of the creation of the first human. This is to underscore that the world was created for the use by humans.