Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. This Torah Minute is about someone who has always been an important part of my life. My Uncle Jack Ratz. There was one thing about him that was unique in our family. My parents and my aunts and uncles were all born and raised in America. But Uncle […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. The holiday of Purim is behind us. And as important as the celebration of a Jewish holiday is? It’s also important that we take something with us. That are lives are somehow different. Here’s something I was thinking about on Purim. And something I hope to think about […]

    Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. Here’s a thought for the Seder. The Torah has an interesting name for the Seder night. It calls it ‘a night of anticipation for G-d’   (Exodus, 12:42).  A time that G-d was “looking forward” to. For how long? … Since the creation of the universe! Because […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. I wanted to tell you about the amazing people of Zaka. … Like the wonderful members of the IDF who spent weeks in Haiti? The volunteers of Zaka should inspire us and make us proud. (You may have seen pictures of them inHaitisaying the Shabbat prayers in their […]

Hope you’re having a great day. You hear alot of talk these days about car brakes. … A driver gets pulled over by a policeman. “Didn’t you see that stop sign?  You went right through it!”  The driver thinks quickly and says, “You know officer, sometimes those Toyota brakes just fail.” “Nice try buddy, but […]

Hi, Hope you you’re having a great day. … Human beings are capable of having more than one emotion at the same time. We need to be pained by the indescribable destruction and suffering in Haiti. And at the same time, as Jews? We should feel incredibly proud to be Jewish. … Its one of […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. The Torah Minute is starting its 6th year. And how old is the Torah? Jewish tradition says approximately 3300 years. The Exodus took place around 1300 B.C.E. and we went on to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. Secular historians who don’t accept Jewish tradition? Many have been […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. This story is not about a great Rabbi or a famous person. It’s about an ordinary person that we can learn from. … A woman parked her car at a shopping center, and when her teenage son opened his door? It hit a shiny red Lexus SUV parked […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. … The Hebrew school teacher was determined. She was going to get the kids to remember the names of the “Five Books of Moses”. “Who can list all five”? One kid starts waiving his hand, “I know.  I know! It’s… Genesis.  And um… um… Exodus. And wait.  I […]

Hope you’re having a great day. … I wanted to share an experience that I had this week. I was asked to speak for a group of Jewish high school kids. Something I love to do! The topic was up to me. But it had to be short.  And something they would listen to. (And […]