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| The False Messiah |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| A wagging tongue and a gullible ear led to the destruction of ancient Betar, a bustling metropolis that was home to millions of Jews, bursting the bubble of a false Messiah... |
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| He's My Brother |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| For 10 weeks a year on the Jewish calendar - one out of every 5 of our lives - joy and music are curtailed. Haven't we had enough of intramural hate? |
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| Tisha B'Av: Why Cry? |
| By Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak |
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| How do we get through to people and teach them the things that can bring them back to life? “You do have hope. Hashem is with you. Everything can be good..." |
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| A Letter to Jerusalem |
| By Yehudit Levy |
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| How does a person come to terms with the loss of his very life-source? Fortunately, we don't realize the true meaning of Tisha B'Av, or we'd lose our sanity... |
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| Up in Smoke |
| By Rivka Levy |
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| The "Chida" - Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai, of blessed memory, says that by getting rid of needless physical excesses, we rid ourselves of spiritual excesses... |
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| Out of the Self Mode |
| By Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak |
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| The Evil Inclination tries to make a person think about himself, whereas Elul teaches us to get out of the self mode and to seek our Loving Father who is ever so close… |
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| Breaking the Bricks |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Did you ever wonder how a little 105-pound Korean Karate specialist can break a whole stack of bricks? He didn't learn this skill by watching a You-Tube clip yesterday... |
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| Elul: Finding Our Way |
| By Rabbi Shalom Arush |
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| There's a basic law in navigation - you can't know where you're going until you know where you are. Most people have no idea where they are - they're lost in this world... |
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| Frummie Rebelette |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| A young lady from a “frum” family seemingly has everything in life, yet she repeatedly rebels against Hashem. Why? She herself has no idea, but she still suffers… |
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| The Gift of Failure |
| By Dovber HaLevi |
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| When we’re happy in marriage, we never get fired. We aren’t allowed to quit. We have the opportunities to reap the rewards of the most intense love and happiness here on earth… |
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| Tatty! |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| What can a person possibly do at the last minute to mitigate the harsh judgments that seem to be facing us collectively this New Year? Is there hope? |
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| No More Fashion Show |
| By Rabbi Shalom Arush |
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| The women who flaunt themselves and crave for attention are far from happy. How can they be? There can be no happiness in a place devoid of Hashem's Holy Presence... |
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| The Shofar: Breaking Free |
| By Menachem Zakai |
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| What is the teshuvah needed before Rosh Hashanah? How should we prepare ourselves? What should we think about? What does the shofar accomplish for us individually? |
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| The Snare of Self-Prosecution |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Who would be so daft to agree to a guilty verdict against themselves? You're right - no one. Yet, we get tricked into incriminating ourselves constantly… |
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| Call of the Great Shofar |
| By Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook zatza”l |
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| The least preferred shofar is the wake-up call that comes from antisemitic nations, warning the Jews to escape while they still can and flee to their own land. |
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| Fast Lane to Forgiveness |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| People who are stressed out by Yom Kippur think that teshuva is something heavy that normal people can't do; but, there's a fast lane to forgiveness that makes life easy… |
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| Yom Kippur: Fear or Joy? |
| By Rabbi Shalom Arush |
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| People are so afraid of Yom Kippur. What are they afraid of? The fast? Being in synagogue all day long? The finalization of the Heavenly Verdicts passed on Rosh Hashana? |
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| Days of Love |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Why does the Gemara compare Yom Kippur to the 15th of Av, “Love Day?” Forgiveness is probably the greatest expression of love there is... |
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| The Lashes of Yom Kippur Eve |
| By Rabbi Shaul Dov Felman |
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| Many Ashkenazi Jews have the custom of each person giving a friend thirty-nine mock lashes on Yom Kippur eve, reminiscent of the lashes in the Holy Temple… |
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| The Benefit of the Doubt |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches that by judging a wicked people fairly, in other words, by giving them the benefit of the doubt, we trigger a spiritual... |
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| Protective Fortress |
| By Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook zatza”l |
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| From the time of Joshua, the Jewish people had not dwelt in sukkot until after their return from the Babylonian exile. Why was this mitzvah neglected for so many centuries? |
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| The Key to National Security |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Other nations - even our allies - have been threatening us that we are in danger of political and international isolation. Should we really fear isolation? |
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| The Magnitude of Torah |
| By Rabbi Mordechai Kornfeld |
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| The Pentateuch is only the tip of an iceberg. Infinite knowledge can be gleaned from the Written Law through inference by applying the 13 rules of Biblical exegesis… |
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| Breslover Customs for Yom Tov |
| By Rabbi Dovid Sears |
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| The Rebbe taught that by giving tzedakah before the festival, one is enabled to see through the illusion... |
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| Her Crown of Torah - Simchat Torah |
| By Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum |
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| Can Jewish women earn the crown of Torah? The new generation of Jewish women wants more than just to sit back passively and listen to the wisdom of others… |
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| The Brightest Candle |
| By Rabbi Shalom Arush |
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| Your children are looking at you right now: How is Daddy lighting Chanuka candles? Is he rejoicing or is it a pain for him? What do Daddy and Mommy find thrilling? |
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| Wannabe or Maccabee? |
| By Natalie Kovan |
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| The Maccabee's entire struggle was a fight to remain what they were—Jews, dedicated to HaShem, His Torah and His Land. And now, we find ourselves with a similar script... |
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| Hellenism: Nothing New |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Rabbi Brody gives us an amazing historical background to the rise of the Greeks and Greek influence in the Land of Israel, which led to the enlightenist movement named Hellenism. |
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| Unconditional Resistance |
| By the Lubavitcher Rebbe |
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| The words of the true tzaddikim are relevant and timely always, as we see in the Lubavitcher Rebbe's amazing Chanuka message from over 50 years ago... |
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| Chana and Her Seven Sons |
| By Jewish Tradition |
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| The Gemara tells the moving story of Chana and her seven sons, who preferred martyrdom rather than cowering to the Greeks and the Hellenists... |
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| Here to Stay |
| By Tal Rotem |
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| Suppose you had no troubles in life, no enemies on the borders and all the health and livelihood you need. How would you describe such a dreamy life? |
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| Save the Trees |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Few nations are so environmentally aware as the Jewish People; Tu B'Shvat, the New Year for trees, is a day when we focus on beautifying the earth we live on... |
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| The Family Tree |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Any change at the base of the trunk has a profound effect on the branches, then subsequently on the twigs, and ultimately on the leaves and fruit... |
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| Restoration and Reforestation |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Why does Judaism need a New Year for trees? Are we a bunch of green-peaceniks or something? Are we the watchdogs of civil liberties for trees? |
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| Like the Trees in Winter |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| An unsuspecting onlooker wouldn't believe that the bare and dry branches of trees in winter will ever sprout green again, much less give fruit, just like the Jewish people… |
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| How to Nullify a Decree |
| By the Lubavitcher Rebbe |
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| The holiday of Purim celebrates the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from a threat of annihilation: the evil plan fomented by Haman to destroy them, Heaven forbid... |
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| The Clogged Pore |
| By Tal Rotem |
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| Purim is not only a time of joy; it's a time of reflection. We take a good look at ourselves and examine whether there are any Haman-like traces on our character profile... |
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| Joy of Purim |
| By Dr. Zev Ballen |
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| We can learn everything that we need to know about being happy from one very special holiday that Hashem gave to us – the holiday of Purim. |
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| The Red Suitcase |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| The poor man sat on a tattered red suitcase in the middle of the sidewalk crying like a baby; people were already hurrying to shul, but he had nowhere to sleep… |
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| Little Queen Esther |
| By Natalie Kovan |
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| The little queen stood in front of the mirror next to the yoghurts and whipped topping, kissing her reflection over and over as if to say, “I love you! I really really love you!” |
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| Loving Lenience |
| By Tal Rotem |
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| The young man was adamant - he wanted a divorce! His wife had failed failed to observe the gebroks custom; she let a few drops of water touch a piece of matza... |
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| The Fifth Son |
| By Rabbi Berel Wein |
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| There is a fifth child that sits at the Jewish Seder table in our time. He has no qualms about marrying a non-Jew, he is probably liberally pro-Palestinian... |
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| The KP Brain |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Without a doubt, our homes are all kosher for Passover. But what about our brains? Have we done anything about ridding them from troubling and forbidden thoughts? |
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| One Short Night |
| By Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach |
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| Seder night is when we tell our children there is one G-d. There is one Torah. There is Eretz Yisrael. There's no time to waste - there's much to do in one short night... |
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| Passover: Dread or Dream? |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| We're all extremely cautious about packing and unpacking the Passover porcelain and the crystal wine goblets; let's be as equally cautious with our children's souls... |
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| The Pin Cushion |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| The little Polish girls grabbed my mother and turned her into a living pin cushion; she came home a bloody mess. That same night, she and her parents left Grodno… |
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| Death Train |
| By L. Dekelman and C. Rubin |
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| At one point, the train stopped in Kashau, Hungary, and in the station a bucket of water was passed into our car. Try to imagine sharing one bucket... |
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| Still Burning |
| By Breslev Israel staff |
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| As told to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, zt'l - We stood there, frightened and excited. Who would have dreamed that one small flame could give off so much light?
Suddenly, a German... |
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| The Brother's Blood |
| By David Kranzler |
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| Something much more drastic had to be done. But Rabbi Schonfeld at first did not dare spell out his plans. He was afraid he would... |
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| The White Angel of Auschwitz |
| By Joseph Friedenson |
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| I began checking one infirmary barrack after another. Everyone knew the name Orlean, but no one knew where she could be found... |
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| David and the Syrian Goliath |
| By Tal Rotem |
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| Tel Facher was the site of an impregnable Syrian bunker, which made the lives of Galilee residents miserable for almost two decades; this was the key to taking the Golan… |
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| Ode to the Anonymous Hero |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Some heroes remain unknown forever; no one knows what they did or how they really died. We do know, one thing, though - in their virtue, we sleep peaceful nights... |
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| The Miracle of Ad Halom |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Eddie Cohen, a quiet English-speaking pilot who loved classical music, was the IAF’s first martyr. The people of Ashdod and all of Israel owe him a debt of eternal gratitude. |
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| Mighty Machlouf |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| The story of an unsung hero and true Chassid in every sense of the word, who paid the ultimate price to save the life of a comrade in arms during... |
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| My Buddy’s Eyes |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Rebbe Akiva’s 24,000 students died because of sin’at chinam, hatred for no reason. Rabbi Lazer Brody tells an opposite story of the brotherly love between 2 wounded soldiers... |
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| Building Bonfires |
| By Yehudit Levy |
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| It is so easy to be introspective upon the bad we do, the mistakes we make, the misgivings we have. Yet how many of us do any introspection upon our good points? |
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| The Fires of Lag B'Omer |
| By Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum |
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| Is the purpose of the bon-fires on Lag B’Omer mainly to consume all the accumulated garden waste? Or is there a deeper reason behind lighting fires on this holy day? |
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| The Final Countdown |
| By Rivka Levy |
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| Last year was the second year that I counted all the way through. But the inner significance or meaning of why each day needed to be counted? I was still clueless... |
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| Soothing the National Pain |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Israel has a long list of aches and troubles, from within and from without. Yet, the unity of Lag B’Omer soothes the national pain. That in itself is reason to celebrate. |
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| Rashbi’s Passing |
| By Rabbi Moshe Miller |
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| Lag B’omer is the yahrtzeit, the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s exit from the physical world. The Zohar in Idra Zuta gives a moving account of what happened… |
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| Love for Love |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| The greatest act of love is doing one's utmost to please the one you love with no expectations in return, and no ulterior motives other than pleasing your beloved... |
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| Wisdom of Sinai |
| By Rabbi Shalom Arush |
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| Is there a genius who can invent anything without relying on prior knowledge and research? The light bulb could not have been invented before the discovery of electricity... |
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| Don't Miss the Train! |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| Sometimes in history, there is a moment when the sky opens up and Hashem grants special special requests; the holiday of Shavuot is one such opportune time… |
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| The Lesson of Sinai |
| By Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook zatza”l |
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| Why didn’t Hashem give the Torah to the Jewish People on Shavuot from Mount Sinai, and not from Mount Moriah on their own homeland? Why out in the desert wasteland?… |
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| Like A Rolling Stone |
| By Rabbi Lazer Brody |
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| What are we talking about, Mick Jagger, an avant guarde magazine, or King David? A rolling stone gets kicked around from person to person and from place to place... |
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