Three times a day we glibly say the first verse of the Shema, articulating the belief that most defines our Jewishness. But what is its origin, what does it really mean and why is it so central to our prayers? A Single Almighty Force The preeminent phrase in all of Jewish liturgy, Shema Yisrael: Hear Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One, was composed inParshas Vayechi by the sons of Ya'acov. It is the key to awareness of Divine intent in everything we experience. Traditionally we assume that in the Shema we address our nation, Israel. Each of us directs the community o..

Both Avraham and Noach were pious giants. Both were monotheistic prophets who communicated directly with God. Why is Avraham considered the first Jew, and Noach a gentile? One early winter's evening in 1968 at a Yeshiva on a settlement in rural Israel, I participated as a guest in a shiur that set the wheels of my mind working at a speed and direction that hasn't slowed or changed since then. I recall the Rav who was teaching - someone who generally encouraged his students to expand their general knowledge - warning them never to read the works of Ayn Rand, which he said were destructive ..

The term New Year is a misnomer. Years are not renewed; they are repeated. Only months are renewed. The Hebrew word for year, shanah, means "repeated". The word for month, chodesh, means "new." Every month has different holidays, they occur in different seasons. The feel and look of each month is different from the others and Rosh Chodesh is symbolized by the reappearance of a "new" moon that was not visible the day before. Each year on the other hand, resembles the ones before it. Every year contains the same holidays and includes the same seasons. There is nothi..

A common way to manage apparently irreconcilable difference is to find the middle ground, but compromise rarely satisfies either position. There is another way. Imagine the two different positions as offshoots on two branches of a tree. If the tree is large there could be a considerable distance between these two offshoots. Imagine further that all you see is the offshoots, not the rest of the tree. These two offshoots appear to share nothing in common. As soon as you see the context in which these two offshoots live and grow, however, you realize they are part of one tree and share a com..

There are so many things I would like to do but don't because I don't have the time or resources to do them. I hear myself so often saying, if or when I have the time and the resources I will do such and such. Some of the things I postpone or even eliminate from the realm of possibility are important to me, they are things I want to do and believe I should but just don't have the time or resources. So often I feel trapped by the limitation of resources. I have a sense that I am not the only person trapped in the limited time and resource conundrum. Many of us eliminate exci..

Life events are often sandwiched between two spiritual experiences: prayer and praise. We pray for our aspirations and we praise Him when they are fulfilled; we pray before a challenge and celebrate our success with gratitude. From a linear perspective, prayer for the future precedes praise for the past; first we request, then we thank. However, like prayer, praise and appreciation is a mighty spiritual force that can impact success. How, you may ask, can something that we do after the completion of an event, affect that event's success? The answer is that the way we respond to an event, ..

Halacha: Responsive to Change or Reactionary Fundamentalism? Rashi Shemot 21:1 Change and Masorah (Tradition) When it comes to change, Poskim (renowned Halachik decision-makers) go only so far and no further. They walk the difficult tension between changing social norms and needs, and adherence toMesorah (the tradition of Jewish conduct handed down from Sinai and transmitted orally throughout the ages). On the one hand they have significantly accommodated changing situations throughout the ages. On the other hand they often seem fiercely reactionary! What ar..

The Freudian Slip The story of the Megillah, always on the edge of tragedy, is nevertheless peppered with poignant moments of hysterical comedy. The bulk of the comedy however is found in the pages of Talmudic and Midrashic material. This material gives even more life to the fairly brief recounting of the story as told in the Megillah itself. One such moment occurs when Queen Esther has set the stage for her dramatic revelation of Haman’s complicity in the plot to exterminate her and her nation. Both her husband the King and Haman have arrived at her dinner party. The King is in a joyf..