The lenses through which we see the world determine not only how we experience it but also how we respond to it. The Dangers of Secularization  One of my greatest learning and teaching challenges is to be vigilant about seeing and showing the world through the lens of a pure, authentic Torah Hashkaffa (worldview) and not one tainted by secularity. The lenses through which we see the world determine not only how we experience it but also how we respond to it and to the events of our lives. A person who has become embittered or who is simply prejudiced for..

Kedusha: The Challenge The Torah's highest spiritual expectations are not attainable by everyone, but its Halachik (legal) expectations are. "Kedoshim Tiheyu" ("you shall be individuals of sanctity") is a Halachik expectation, it is a commandment, a mitzvah. We are obligated not only to aspire to sanctity, but to achieve it. And no, Hashem is not joking, He is absolutely serious! What is kedusha (sanctity) and how do you achieve it? Kedusha is the ultimate level in the Mesilat Yesharim's[1] remarkable manual of spiritual greatness. In this essay I bas..

    A significant geo-intellectual shift is taking place in the world. The West, being steeped in scientific thought and its quest for clarity has relentlessly pursued the measurable. How much? How many? How long? When? Where? We are ill at ease with paradox and feel awkward with enigma. The East on the other hand, has been far more at home in the world of the mystical, transcendental and spiritual. Asian thinkers have always been comfortable with the unknowable, and the immeasurable. The East more than the West has known that not all things valuable are measurable; and not a..