(click here for print version) Several years ago, we ran a couple of back-to-back Isralight weekend retreats in Orlando, Florida, which afforded me the opportunity to take a long-overdue vacation with my family in Disney world. For our children, who had just spent the better part of a year dealing with the day to day challenges of living in … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) Passover - In the Name of Love Passover commemorates the miraculous exodus of the Jews from Egypt. After 210 years of oppression and cruel servitude, an entire people leave in astounding record time, faster than it takes dough to leaven into bread. We celebrate this event with a festive meal and ceremony called … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) There are moments in time one needs to forget. And yet, so often, these same moments, we really need to remember. Such a moment came into my life on August 9th (the twentieth of Av) 2001. An innocent, beautiful afternoon in the heart of Jerusalem surrounded by the music of children's laughter. Lives full of … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) You are Loved! Don’t Pass Up Passover I was once sitting and learning Torah with the Hollywood Actor, Kirk Douglas, when suddenly he turned to me and said, “You know, Rabbi, I love being Jewish.” “Oh, yeah? Why?” I asked. “Because being Jewish is dramatic!” I was surprised by his unusual … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) The Gift of the Given Moment A Passover Thought from the Portion of Tzav There are places in this world that are so powerful, so full of meaning that they allow us to tap in to why we are really here. Such a place is Emek HaBacha, The Valley of Tears. In this valley, deep in the Golan Heights, in the Yom Kippur War … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) Unmasking Nature: G-d’s Love is Here and Now According to Jewish Tradition, as soon as the Hebrew month of Adar begins we must increase our joy because the miracle of the Purim Story happened on that month. Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jews in the year 357 BCE from the wicked Haman's scheme to … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) There is a darkness sometimes that rages within which can overpower our very being... I had a Battalion commander, who took the first watch on the tank after a brutal day in the Lebanon war. It was the third night of fighting, and the men by now were near exhaustion. In the middle of the night, alone with … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) Successful People are Unaccomplished Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord. (Exodus 35:2) During the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the desert they carried with them a portable temple referred to as the Tabernacle … [Read more...]
(click here for print version) Sometimes, it's that one extra word that makes all the difference. It was only a fraction of a moment of my time in the army, but it was a lesson I never forgot, though to this day I am undecided as to whether I agree with it. I was desperate to get a day off; we were still in basic training, and I had … [Read more...]
Every year on Purim we read Megillat Esther, not once but twice. The Megilla tells the story of how one woman saved the entire Jewish population of the Persian Empire. When Esther’s parents died Mordechai adopted her, his niece, and raised her as his daughter. Together, the two of them changed the entire destiny of our nation through their … [Read more...]
The Isralight Teaching Internship is dedicated to professional training for rabbis, Jewish educators, and aspiring outreach leaders under … [Read More...]
Dear friends: Just a reminder we will not meet this Thursday evening May 10…. Next Thursday we will have a special pre-Yom Yerushalayim … [Read More...]
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Isralight Mastering Kiruv Seminar scheduled to take place this Motzei Shabbat, Feb. 4th has been postponed … [Read More...]