PARSHAS NETZOVIM 5778 ROSH HASHANAH 5779
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Netzovim – Avos perakim 5-6 27 Elul 5778/September 7, 2018 A few years ago, Chani took our younger children to one of the local Jewish owned shoe stores to buy shoes. The store had a section with slides and climbing toys for children. Our (then) 5-year-old daughter […]
PARSHAS KI SAVO 5778
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Ki Savo – Avos perakim 3-4 20 Elul 5778/August 31, 2018 It’s the million-dollar question – why do we feel like we never change? The truth is that the question itself is a fallacy. Who doesn’t change over time? The experiences of life invariably effect and change […]
PARSHAS KI SETZEI 5778
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Ki Setzei – Avos perakim 1-2 13 Elul 5778/August 24, 2018 Sometimes it’s the simplest events that leave the greatest impressions. Several summers ago, a camper crossed the line and needed to be disciplined. I was the camper’s division head, but I felt the situation warranted the […]
PARSHAS KI SETZEI 5778
STAM TORAH PARSHAS KI SETZEI 5778 “ALTERED SPIRIT” Smartphone Detox: How To Power Down In A Wired World February 12, 2018 5:03 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition, NPR “If the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov were alive today, what would he say about smartphones? He might not think of them as phones at all, but instead as […]
PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5778
STAM TORAH PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5778 “CLEARLY MARKED” Once, two collectors arrived and began circulating the small village of Radin simultaneously. One was soliciting funds for a secular organization in Eretz Yisroel, while the other was collecting for poor families of b’nei Torah. The first collector was only in town for a short time, because […]
PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5778
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shoftim – Avos perek 6 7 Elul 5778/August 17, 2018 I have been attending summer camp for almost three decades. I have been a camper, masmid, office boy, junior counselor, counselor, learning rebbe, head waiter, and the division head of almost every age. But I have […]
PARSHAS RE’EH 5778
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Re’eh Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Elul – Avos perek 5 29 Av 5778/August 10, 2018 On a recent Sunday afternoon, I attended three weddings. Thankfully, they were all within a half hour of each other. Each was special and wonderful, but it was a long and draining day. […]
PARSHAS RE’EH 5778
STAM TORAH PARSHAS RE’EH 5778 “WITH DIGNITY” Rav Mottel Weinberg zt’l, the beloved Montreal Rosh Yeshiva, would join his Yeshiva for the summer in Camp Harim in the Catskills Mountains. Rav Weinberg developed a close relationship with Rav Yankel Horowitz, the Rosh Yeshiva of Bais Meir, who also spent his summers there. Rav Mottel […]
PARSHAS EIKEV 5778
STAM TORAH PARSHAS EIKEV 5778 “BEYOND SELF” A student of Rav Shmuel Berenbaum zt’l once approached his rebbe and cried bitter tears, as he relayed the bitter plight his family was suffering. Sometime later, the student returned to tell Rav Shmuel that the crisis had thankfully passed. The student was sure that […]
PARSHAS EIKEV 5778
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Eikev Mevorchim Chodesh Elul – Avos perek 4 22 Av 5778/August 3, 2018 I wonder if others have had this experience too. Before Tisha B’av I was listening to a lecture about the importance of being nosei b’ol im chaveiro (sharing the burden with one’s friend). Essentially, […]