• From Bergen-Belsen to Redemption

    I have often wondered why in the text of the four questions of the Passover Haggadah and the original text of the four questions in the Talmud (Pesachim 116a), it says, “On all other nights, we eat leaven and matza, but on this night only matza,” whereas when the Haggadah describes the bitter herbs it…

  • Humility and the Cure for Lashon Hara

    In this week’s Torah portion, Tazriah-Metzorah, we read about the biblical ailment of tzaraat, a skin disease which, the commentaries say, comes from speaking lashon hara, slander about others. But why is this sin singled out to produce a physical manifestation for all to see? Why is lashon hara so bad that the Talmud tells us one…

  • Hidden Treasure: Spiritual Growth in a Time of Isolation

    This Shabbat we read the double portion of Tazria and Metzora which discuss the different kinds of impurity resulting from Tzaraat, a Biblical skin disease seen by our sages as a physical manifestation of spiritual malady.  The Torah commands that  if Tzaraat affects a house, the house must first be shut up for seven days…