On Saturday a great teacher of Torah, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, died. In an interview published in 2013, Rabbi Sacks said that our core [...]

Many of us are spending a great deal of time on Zoom calls, on our screens—sitting inside. My friend, a doctor, said this is not good for our mental and physical well-being. It’s important to [...]

חַֽסְדֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ כִּ֣י לֹא־תָ֔מְנוּ כִּ֥י לֹא־כָל֖וּ רַחֲמָֽיו׃ חֲדָשִׁים֙ לַבְּקָרִ֔ים רַבָּ֖ה אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ The kindness of the ETERNAL has not ended, Your mercies are not spent! They are renewed every morning—Great is Your faithfulness! (Lamentations 3:22-23) These [...]

We awaken unsure of what yesterday’s election means for us and for America. Much will be revealed in the days to come. This much is abundantly clear: we are a deeply divided nation. Here is [...]

“Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear it inspires, we would swallow one another alive!” (Pirkei Avot 3:2) Since medieval times, a prayer for the welfare of the [...]

וְדִרְשׁ֞וּ אֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הָעִ֗יר אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגְלֵ֤יתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ שָׁ֔מָּה וְהִתְפַּֽלְל֥וּ בַעֲדָ֖הּ אֶל־יְהוָ֑ה כִּ֣י בִשְׁלוֹמָ֔הּ יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם שָׁלֽוֹם׃ And seek the peace of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the ETERNAL on its [...]

When there was a cholera epidemic in 1848, Rabbi Israel Salanter posted announcements on all the houses of prayer of Vilna on the eve of Yom Kippur, urging people not to fast on that holy [...]

Rabbi Eleazar taught: it is often the case that when a person insults another in public and after a time wishes to be reconciled, he approaches the other person privately to apologize. The one who [...]

Every person is given free will. If we wish to turn to the good, to the way of the righteous, we have the power to do so. Or if we wish to turn to evil [...]

One year before Yom Kippur, the great sage Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk sat in his study, worrying. “How shall I face God on Yom Kippur—I have committed so many transgressions?” He began to count them [...]