PARSHAS KI SAVO 5779
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Ki Savo 20 Elul 5779/September 20, 2019 – Avos perakim 3-4 The month of June is a busy time for the Staum family, as we prepare to migrate to Camp Dora Golding in East Stroudsburg, PA for the summer. This year, the day before […]
PARSHAS KI SAVO 5779
STAM TORAH PARSHAS KI SAVO 5779 “ON MY SHOULDERS”[1] During the early hours of March 13, 1964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was stabbed outside an apartment building across the street from where she lived in Queens, NY. Genovese was then chased by her assailant and attacked three times in the street, over the course of a half […]
PARSHAS KI SETZEI 5779
STAM TORAH PARSHAS KI SETZEI 5779 “SELFLESS TAKING”[1] The Latest Marriage Fad: Marrying Yourself[2] May 20, 2017 by Rabbi Benjamin Blech …Its name is sologamy – and it means getting married to yourself. In this sad, new trend of sologamy, people commit themselves to themselves with their own wedding ceremony. These celebrants, such as self-styled “sologamist” Erika […]
PARSHAS KI SETZEI 5779
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Ki Setzei 13 Elul 5779/September 13, 2019 – Avos perakim 1-2 Early Friday morning this past week, as I was preparing the Gemara I would be teaching in shiur later that day, I recalled a question one of my students had asked me about a […]
PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5779
STAM TORAH PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5779 “THE GREATEST GIFT” Noted psychologist, Dr. David Pelcovitz relates that his wife’s uncle was an American soldier in 1945 and was present when they liberated one of the Concentration Camps. When he walked into a children’s barrack, he was stunned by the sight of the frightened, emaciated children. He […]
PARSHAS SHOFTIM 5779
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Shoftim 6 Elul 5779/September 6, 2019 – Avos perek 6 Every night, I empty the contents of my pockets onto the dresser in my bedroom. That often includes loose change, receipts – many of which contain shorthand notes or reminders- clean and dirty tissues, and […]
PARSHAS RE’EH 5779
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Re’eh/Rosh Chodesh Elul 29 Menachem Av 5779/August 30, 2019 – Avos perek 5 For the last six months, I have been working on creating a new siddur for our Yeshiva, Heichal HaTorah. Well, I’m not actually writing a new siddur; the Sages throughout the ages […]
PARSHAS RE’EH 5779
STAM TORAH PARSHAS RE’EH 5779 “THE GREATEST GIFT” This week, I went for a routine eye exam. The optometrist asked me the usual questions of “better now” or “still the same”, as he flipped the lenses while I was trying to decipher the letters on the wall. Then, as is the usual practice, he […]
PARSHAS EIKEV 5779
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Eikev Mevorchim Chodesh Elul 22 Menachem Av 5779/August 23, 2019 – Avos perek 5 It was a really wonderful camp season at Camp Dora Golding this summer b”h. But all good things must come to an end, and on Monday we bid each other farewell. […]
PARSHAS EIKEV 5779
STAM TORAH PARSHAS EIKEV 5779 “MINDFUL BLESSING” The Chasam Sofer had a gabbai who would prepare his breakfast every morning – a coffee and a piece of cake. One morning the gabbai thought to himself that the Chasam Sofer anyway doesn’t pay much attention to the cake he is eating. He only eats […]