Rabbi’s Blog

 

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The Importance of a Good Cry

The Importance of a Good Cry

With anxiety, depression and a whole host of mental health challenges plaguing so many, any helpful tool is worth sharing. But is crying a helpful tool? Does expressing pent-up emotions have value? In today’s share-it-all culture, one might wonder if we have gone too...

The 603,550th Jew

The 603,550th Jew

In Hebrew, it’s called Bamidbar (“In the Desert”) and also Sefer HaPekudim (“The Book of the Countings”); in the English-speaking world, this is the biblical section known as “Numbers.” And yes, there are many, many numbers in the fourth of...

The Secret to A Better Relationship

The Secret to A Better Relationship

One of my favorite lines is, "as a Chabad Rabbi, my job is to make the uncomfortable, comfortable, and to make the comfortable, uncomfortable". See what I mean below. The secret to personal growth is dealing with the dead. No, that wasn't a typo, indulge me for a...

Make It As Permanent As A Tattoo

Make It As Permanent As A Tattoo

You shall not etch a tattoo on yourselves. I am the L-rd. Leviticus 19:28 Q: I have a tattoo, can I be buried in a Jewish cemetery? A: In years past, some burial societies had their own covenants (not required by Jewish law) that they wouldn’t bury tattooed...

“א געזונטע זומער”- A Healthy Summer!

“א געזונטע זומער”- A Healthy Summer!

WOW! The holiday marathon is behind us. While there were certainly limitations on work, food etc., I hope that it was for you, as it was for us, wonderful and beautiful family time and celebration. The post Passover greeting is "א געזונטע זומער" a healthy summer....

Doing It Right

Doing It Right

Imagine; showing up to a wedding and leaving before the actual ceremony, arriving at a concert, enjoying the opener but leaving before the headliner, or enjoying the buffet and leaving before the main presentation. G-d is in the details. Passover is celebrated on the...

Why They Keep Coming for the Afikomen

Why They Keep Coming for the Afikomen

One of the favorite moments for many at the Seder is the hiding of the Afikomen, and the children finding, holding it ransom until a proper prize is given in exchange for this “dessert” without which the Seder cannot end.What in fact makes this Afikomen so important,...

The Silver Foundation

The Silver Foundation

The Torah reading of Pekudei (Exodus 38:21–40:38) opens with an accounting of the various materials donated by the people of Israel for the making of the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary which “housed” the Divine Presence in...

Don’t observe Judaism, celebrate it!

Don’t observe Judaism, celebrate it!

"Quoted by Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz AKA Schwartzie" One can look at the tasks required to raise healthy, independent children (cleaning, cooking, diaper changing and bed making etc.) as chores, as things I have to do. Alternatively, one can look at them as something to...