PARSHAS CHAYEI SARAH 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH PARSHAS CHAYEI SARAH 5774 “THE LUCKY ONE” Adar 5762/February 2002. It was the day before my wife and I celebrated our first anniversary. At the time I was a member of the Kollel of Yeshiva Shaarei Torah where I was […]
PARSHAS VAYERA 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH PARSHAS VAYERA 5774 “CLOUDS AND DONKEYS” In the early years of our marriage we would spend many a Yom Tov in Lakewood, New Jersey, at the home of my in-laws, including Succos 5767 (2007). That year I decided that it would […]
PARSHAS LECH LECHA 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH PARSHAS LECH LECHA 5774 “EMOTIONAL CONNECTION” In a cache of writings by former President Ronald Reagan, a researcher came upon the following rumination: “Every once in a while, all of us native-born Americans should make it a point to have a […]
PARSHAS NOACH 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH PARSHAS NOACH 5774 “SUNRISE; SUNSET” “Sunrise, sunsetSunrise, sunsetSwiftly flow the daysSeedlings turn overnight to sunflowersBlossoming even as we gaze ”Sunrise, sunsetSunrise, sunsetSwiftly fly the yearsOne season following anotherLaden with happiness and tears1” On Sunday, 25 Tishrei 5768, our family had a […]
PARSHAS BEREISHES 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH PARSHAS BEREISHES 5774 “LEVEL OF THE LAW” Rabbi Fishel Shechter related the following story: “I once met an elderly Slovakian man. He related to me that before the Second World War, the secular winds of enlightenment had a spiritually negative influence on […]
SUCCOS 5768
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH SUCCOS 5768 “THE CIRCLE OF LIFE1” On any tombstone you will see two dates – the date of birth and the date of death. All that separates those two dates is a Dash. Just a simple, single line that represents […]
SIMCHAS TORAH 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH SIMCHAS TORAH 5774 “BRIDEGROOM OF A NEW BEGINNING1” Rashi2 explains the underlying reason for having a separate holiday of Shemini Atzeres/Simchas Torah immediately following the conclusion of Succos. “It is comparable to a king who invited his sons for a meal […]
YOM KIPPUR 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH YOM KIPPUR 5774 “REJOICE WITH TREPIDATION” When the Staum children were younger, they would periodically engage me in a game of “chase me”. I was assigned the role of ‘monster’, which meant that my job was to chase them with slow […]
ROSH HASHANA 5774
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH ROSH HASHANA 5774 “THE ROAD AND DESTINATION” In March 2006, the Torah world was excitedly preparing for the Siyum HaShas1. That Siyum HaShas was to be the eleventh and the largest ever up to that time. The main events were to […]
PARSHIOS NETZOVIM-VAYELECH 5773
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch STAM TORAH PARSHIOS NETZOVIM-VAYELECH “REPENTANCE OR RESIGNATION” Rabbi Binaymin of Radin related the following parable just after the conclusion of Yom Kippur: When Russia shared a border with Poland, there was a city just over the Russian border and another city two […]