Parshas Vayakhel – Shekalim 5771
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayakhel – Shekalim Mevorchim Chodesh Adar II 24 Adar I 5776/ March Forth, 2016 I spend my afternoons in the warm environs of Mesivta Ohr Naftoli in New Windsor, NY, where I am the Principal of the Secular Studies department. Once a week the students […]
KI SISA 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Ki Sisa 17 Adar I 5776/ February 26, 2016 For four years of High School I was a talmid of Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Monsey. During those years the Rosh Yeshiva was one of my lifelong rabbeim, Rabbi Berel Wein shlita. Throughout my High School […]
TETZAVEH 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Tetzaveh 10 Adar I 5776/ February 19, 2016 Do you know who really knows everything? The cab drivers in Eretz Yisroel. If you don’t believe me just ask them. Actually, you don’t have to ask them, they’ll tell you themselves. During our time in Eretz Yisroel we had our […]
PARSHAS TERUMAH 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Terumah 3 Adar I 5776/ February 12, 2016 While standing and davening at the Kosel Hama’aravi last week I was reminded of the following anecdote I had once heard: An elderly man who was attending an NFL game one Sunday afternoon with his family. In the middle […]
PARSHAS MISHPATIM 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Mishpatim Shabbos Mevorchim Chodesh Adar I 26 Shevat 5776/ February 5, 2016 There were many special highlights and memorable moments during my recent trip to Eretz Yisroel with my son Shalom, in honor of his bar mitzvah. We had the zechus of receiving berachos from many gedolim, […]
Parshas Yisro 5776
Among the vast collection of jokes that I have heard from my father over the years is the following:There was once a British fellow, a rich American, an Indian, an imbecile, and an Israeli sitting together in a diner. The Brit turned to the quadro and said, “excuse me gentlemen, what is your opinion about […]
PARSHAS BO 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Bo 5 Shevat 5776/ January 15, 2016 It’s perhaps the most rabbinic word in the dictionary. If a person has aspirations to become a rabbi, aside from knowing halacha and how to develop a practical lesson from the parsha, he’s gotta be able to pronounce the word […]
PARSHAS VA’ERA 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Va’era Mevorchim Chodesh Shevat 28 Teves 5776/ January 8, 2016 Periodically at a simcha the waiter will give the guests a choice about what kind of soup they would like. When the waiter asks me if I would like vegetable soup or broccoli soup, I often reply […]
PARSHAS SHEMOS 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shemos 21 Teves 5776/ January 1, 2016 It was so strange. This week on Tuesday morning, those of us in the New York area, awoke to ice and snow. After a December which boasted days when it was warmer and brighter in New York than in […]
PARSHAS VAYECHI 5776
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayechi 14 Teves 5776/ December 25, 2015 Someone once quipped that their mother was always serving leftovers; they have never found the original! Everyone seems to groan when they hear that they are having leftovers for supper. Some mothers try to reason with their family “You […]