leadership
Pinchas – Spiritual Intuition
Why do we need so many different voices pointing out which piece of the land of Israel is given to which tribe? What does it mean that the lottery ticket itself spoke? What is the message of the midrash in saying that the women of Israel were able to close the spiritual gap created by…
Read MorePinchas – Leadership of Yosef and Levi
What is the connection between Pinchos, inheriting the land, the daughters of Tzlafchad, and the appointment of Yehoshua? Why do the Jewish people face a test in the area of licentious relations as they are entering Israel? Why is the leadership in the midbar solely from the tribe of Levi, and entering Israel it is…
Read MoreShemos – Firmness, Patience and Compassion
Why does Moshe stay away from Egypt for the lengthy time of sixty five years? Why is the classic story with Moshe and the runaway sheep so essential to his becoming the redeemer? What is the difference between the two different interactions Moshe has with Doson and Aviram? What is the understanding of the interaction…
Read MoreShemini – True leadership
What was the sin of Nadav and Avihu? What was their motivation to bring this fire into the holy of holies? Didn’t they know this place was only for the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur? Why is their death the introduction for the order of the Yom Kippur service? Why was it such a grave…
Read MoreUnderstanding a Gadol
A good friend of mine is a very close talmid of Rav Goldstein, the Rosh Yeshiva of Sha’arei Yosher. Sha’arei Yosher is a special school in Jerusalem that generally caters to Charedi Israeli students who have found themselves distanced from the path of their ancestors. The yeshiva does a wonderful job of helping these young…
Read MoreRuach Hakodesh today
Does Ruach Hakodesh still exist today? I would like to share a number of quotes from Rav Aryeh Kaplan’s book “Handbook of Jewish Thought.” I will give the page references, and I highly recommend seeing the book itself for a better understanding, as there are numerous footnotes that will direct you to the sources of…
Read MoreLeadership qualities
I’m currently reading an amazing book by Stephen Covey, entitled “The Eighth Habit.” I have found this book, as well as his bestselling “Seven Habits” book to be very insightful and relevant. I am amazed at how much of what he writes is actually based on very lofty concepts taught in sifrei machshava, but the…
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