Rosh Hashana 5872
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Rosh Hashanah of 5777 29 Elul Av 5776/ October 2, 2016 Although I have lived in Monsey for most of my life, I am not a Monsey native. My formative years were spent living in the legendary Lower East Side of Manhattan. Until I was eight […]
PARSHIOS NETZOVIM-VAYELECH 5777
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Netzovim-Vayelech 24 Elul 5777/ September 15, 2017 – Avos Perek 5-6 This week marked the sixteenth anniversary of the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001. A few years ago, on September 11, I was teaching my fifth-grade class at Ashar, and was reminiscing about that fateful and […]
PARSHIOS NETZOVIM-VAYELECH 5777
STAM TORAH PARSHIOS NETZOVIM-VAYELECH 5777 “PERFECTLY CANDID” The Stranger Author unknown “A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted […]
PARSHAS KI SAVO 5777
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Ki Savo 17 Elul 5777/ September 8, 2017 – Avos Perek 3-4 This past Wednesday, parents in the Tri-state area gleefully celebrated the return of their children to school. No doubt they are thrilled that their children will be learning Torah and broadening the horizons of their […]
PARSHAS KI SAVO 5777
STAM TORAH PARSHAS KI SAVO 5777 “HEROIC PRESERVATION” Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt’l related that he once asked a survivor how he endured five years in a forced labor camp, and remained a believer? How could he have emerged with the same love for Hashem? The man replied, “We couldn’t keep one mitzvah in the camp. […]
PARSHAS KI SEITZI 5777
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Ki Setzei 10 Elul 5777/ September 1, 2017 – Avos Perek 2 It’s hard to believe that we are approaching the first birthday of our twin boys, Gavriel Yehuda and Michael Binyamin. As has been noted in earlier columns, their pregnancy was fraught with challenges, to say […]
PARSHAS KI SEITZI 5777
STAM TORAH PARSHAS KI SEITZI 5777 “PERSONALLY UNIQUE” Phil and Mike were part of a team of construction workers building a skyscraper in the middle of the city. When it was time for their lunch break they sat down together with their feet dangling twelve stories from the ground. Phil opened his lunch box and […]
PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5777
STAM TORAH PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5777 “EMOTIONAL BRIBERY” Melburn McBroom was a domineering boss, with a temper that intimidated those who worked with him. It may not have been so terrible if McBroom worked in a factory or in an office. But McBroom was an airline pilot. One day in 1978 McBroom’s plane was approaching […]
PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5777
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shoftim 3 Elul 5777/ August 25, 2017 – Avos Perek 1 During the last couple of weeks, our three-and-a-half (and one quarter) year old son, Dovid, wakes up every morning and asks if it’s Shabbos Kodesh. I wish I could say that he’s so drawn to the […]
PARSHAS RE’EH 5777
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Ki Savo 17 Elul 5774/September 12, 2014 Pirkei Avos – Perek 3-4 One Shabbos afternoon during the summer of 2010, in the Staum bungalow at Camp Dora Golding, a four-year-old boy (whose last name happens to be Staum) decided to jump off the top bunk bed. I […]