Rabbi's Message

This week’s Torah portion speaks of the mysterious lesions that appeared on the skin of those who trafficked in gossip. Their punishment was at once severe and precise: they were cast into isolation for up to three weeks, until their affliction healed. The Torah enumerates many forms of ritual impurity. Some bar entry into the Temple; others exclude one from Jerusalem. But the impurity of the metzora is of a different order altogether. It does not merely distance a person fr

Passover is behind us. The question is: what lies ahead? Yes, summer stretches out before us in all its glory (at least in this hemisphere). Plans must be made, pools opened, and the baseball season has returned. But none of that is really about Passover. So what is? What does Passover—now behind us—ask of us today? Of course, there are practical matters: paying the holiday bills, cleaning away the last crumbs of matzah, restoring the kitchen, and figuring out what to do with

When we raise the matzah at the Seder table, we are tuning into two contradictory experiences.First, we encounter the matzah as the “bread of affliction,” as we attest at the opening of the Haggadah. This is the meager ration of bondage—the cracker-like bread the Egyptians forced upon our ancestors because they wouldn’t provide the time or means for a real meal. Yet, by the end of the Haggadah, the narrative shifts: matzah becomes the “bread of freedom.”[1] It reminds us of t

When Moses arrived in Egypt after sixty years of exile, claiming that the G-d of their ancestors had summoned him to liberate the Hebrews, a remarkable thing happened: the people believed him. This was a nation crushed by centuries of backbreaking labor and systematic oppression, yet they accepted the word of a man who looked like an Egyptian noble and had been absent for decades. What made Moses the right person to lead the Exodus? Why did G-d choose him, and at what precise

On the first day of the month of Nissan, fifteen days before the Exodus, G-d said to Moses, “This month, you and I will be redeemed, for we will be redeemed together” (Shemot Rabbah 15:2). What happens to us happens to G-d. If we are in exile, so is G-d. If His children are free, G-d is free as well. That sounds beautiful and deeply stirring—but what does it mean that G-d is in exile, and what does it mean that G-d is free? We know very well what exile means for us. We have p

What is worse than a philandering marriage therapist, an obese dietitian, or a lying ethics counselor? A conceited man of G-d. The two are mutually exclusive; you are either a servant of G-d or a servant of your ego. There is a story of an ethics professor caught cheating on his taxes who defended himself by saying, “My colleague teaches algebra; does that mean he has to become a triangle?” In the secular world, knowledge may be academic, but in the spiritual world, you canno

Sometimes we quietly wonder whether life is fair. Others seem to glide from one simchah to the next, while our own milestones arrive tangled in stress. A wedding overshadowed by tragedy. A birthday marked by conflict. A promotion paired with a crisis. Even our happiest moments feel fragile. Why does joy come mixed with pain? Why does celebration so often carry interruption? We rarely say it out loud, but many of us carry this question. Purim offers a profound answer — one tha

This week, we study the vestments worn by the High Priest as he performed his service in the Temple. The High Priest represents the epitome of holiness; he is the closest a human can be to G d. Selected to represent the entire nation in prayer, supplication, offering, and song to the Almighty, he embodies divine service. He is G d’s servant par excellence, the earthly manifestation of G dliness. His vestments were carefully designed by G d down to the finest detail. This is b

People often say, “Your body is a temple.” But they rarely finish the sentence. Whose temple? Is it your temple or G-d’s? By instinct, we treat our body as our own. It is the instrument of our will. If I want to ski, I send my body hurtling down a slope. If I want to eat, I feed it. If I want to read, I make it sit still for hours. My body obeys. It is a loyal servant, and I am responsible to care for it — to keep it clean, clothed, and healthy. But that is a shallow way to l

What is your morning routine? For billions of people around the world, it involves a familiar sequence of activities: exercising, showering, drinking coffee, eating breakfast, checking social media, and rushing off to work. Then there is the Jewish way to start the day. Jews begin with Torah study and prayer. The first words out of our mouths are a thank you: Thank You, G-d, for returning my soul to me. We thank G-d for our sight, our strength, our ability to walk, to dress,

Jealousy is a corrosive force. It compels you to measure your intrinsic value against other people’s achievements. We know, intellectually, that G-d made each of us unique. My face, my voice, and my thoughts are not identical to anyone else’s. I stand out; no one is exactly like me. But there is a flipside to that uniqueness. Because I am unlike anyone else, I am also woefully inept at replicating what others do. I cannot explain things exactly like my neighbour. I cannot wri

On March 4, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his first inaugural address. America was in the grip of the Great Depression. Economic activity had stalled. Banks were afraid to lend. Businesses were afraid to expand. The economy had seized up—not from a lack of resources, but from paralysis. Roosevelt identified the real enemy as a “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror,” and then uttered the words that became iconic: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

When the Jews left Egypt, they were a nation of slaves. They had no soldiers, no tanks, and no armies. Yet, the Torah doesn’t say the slaves left Egypt, or even that the Jews left Egypt. The Torah says that the army left Egypt. What did Jews know of armies? They were slaves, not soldiers. When attacked by enemies in the desert, Jews had to draft an army each time. Moses told Joshua to choose men to defend against Amalek. G-d told Moses to draft fighters to fight against Midia

21 Tevet     January 10, 2026   He spoke truth to power, orchestrated ten plagues, struck Egypt’s firstborn, freed the slaves, split the sea, and drew bread from heaven. Who am I describing? You know the answer. Moses. But G-d did not choose Moses because he performed miracles. Moses performed miracles because G-d chose him. So why was Moses chosen? What quality marked him as leadership material? Moses was the most empathetic Jew on earth. He could not sleep peacefully while

How do you define crisis? Webster Dictionary defines it as an unstable or crucial time, or state of affairs, in which a decisive change is coming, especially one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome. We usually define crisis as an impending doom. For example, discovering that your spouse wants a divorce, the impending death of a loved one, the shattering news of a life-threatening illness, the loss of employment amid significant financial debt are all

What a tearful and joyful reunion it was between Jacob and his long-lost son, Joseph, when Jacob arrived in Egypt. It was a dramatic moment, twenty-two years in the making. But this was just the first in a series of deeply emotional discoveries. At least Jacob knew what to expect when he met up with Joseph. He knew who Joseph was and had heard that Joseph remained true to his Jewish faith and upbringing. The next series of meetings was a genuine surprise for the elderly fathe

Several days ago, I was on the phone with two of my daughters. It was the older one’s birthday, and she was blessing her younger sister. I interrupted her and suggested that she bless her sister with the best big sister possible. She laughed and said, “Tatty, that is my job, not a blessing.” Wow, I was blown away. She is absolutely right. There are some things we can control and some that we can’t. We take responsibility for what we can and pray to G-d for the rest. We can’t

In the aftermath of the horrific attack that stole so many Jewish lives on Bondi Beach, it is natural for us to be fearful. Our fears and insecurities are real, and we should not dismiss or shunt them aside. We must confront our fear and work through it. But we can’t let our fear govern our behavior. May have wondered why Chabad insists on outdoor Menorah Lightings in this climate. Shouldn’t we retreat behind closed doors and reinforced barricades? Should we not do a better j

Joseph and Jacob remained behind while his brothers traveled to Shechem to tend to Jacob’s flock. Jacob, anxious about the welfare of his children, instructed Joseph to inquire after them. “Go now, see to the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock.” Joseph agreed immediately (Genesis 37:13–14). Joseph’s compliance is surprising given the context. He was well aware of the animosity his brothers harbored toward him, as they had already experienced several hostile

9 Kislev November 29, 2025 In this week’s Torah portion, we read Jacob’s heartfelt supplication to the Almighty. In his prayer, he declared, “I have been humbled by all Your kindnesses and by all Your truth” (Genesis 32:11). The phrase “all Your kindnesses” is readily understood, for G-d had indeed bestowed numerous mercies upon him. However, the phrase “all Your truth” requires examination. Can truth be pluralized? Is there such a thing as a half-truth, or is truth