Hope you’re having a great day! … This is a follow up to the last Torah Minute. We spoke about how we need to do kindness with truth. To make sure that it doesn’t just make us feel good. But that it really helps the other person. And I told you about the yeshiva high […]

Hope you’re having a great day. The Jay Leno show? Not what you expect to see in a Torah Minute! But you probably heard about President Obama being on the show. And when you’re on Leno? You have to try to be funny. And the president made an off the cuff remark. Which came across […]

Hope you’re having a great day.   Chessed.  Acts of kindness. There’s nothing greater in Jewish tradition. But there’s an interesting phrase in the Torah. “Doing kindness and truth”.  (Genesis, 47:29) Because sometimes we can try to be kind with the best of intentions. But in truth we’re not really helping the other person.   […]

Hope you’re having a great day. It’s not too late to say… “Happy 200th birthday to Abraham Lincoln!” If you have today off, enjoy it. But whether we’re working or not? Here’s a way we can think aboutLincolnand become better. Abraham Lincoln once said: “I am a success today because I had a friend who […]

Hope you’re having a great day. Today’s Torah Minute is about… Joe the barber! … Joe passed away recently. He was not Jewish. But he was a fixture in the Rogers Park Jewish community. It was even mentioned in his obituary.   “Joseph Filecia, the son of Italian immigrants, maintained a close rapport with the […]

Hope you’re having a great day. … One more thing about President Obama’s inauguration. We know there was a “blooper” when the oath of office was administered. The way it’s supposed to go? “I will faithfully execute the office of president of theUnited States.” But Chief Justice John Roberts switched it around. “I will execute […]

You don’t need me to tell you. This is an historic day! A day that has inspired millions of people all over the world. And there’s a word that we’ve been hearing constantly. ‘Dream’. As in ‘dreaming of a better world.  A better future.’ And who didn’t hear it yesterday, Martin Luther King’s birthday? “I […]

We know how precious every single soldier in Israel is. I was reading an “analysis” of theGazawar. In the middle of trying to asses the success of the mission? The commentator said something amazing. Something very Jewish. He said, “We should remember what makes a war a “failure” inIsrael… The death of the first soldier!” […]

There is no nation that prays for peace as often as we do!  I made a quick non scientific calculation. And came up with at least 15 times in our daily prayers! At the same time? There is a concept of war in the Torah. Of defending ourselves.  Of fighting the forces of evil. And […]

Hi, Hope all is well. … There is no more fundamental idea in Judaism. “Man is created in the Image of G-d”. This assumption is often challenged these days. Sometimes in books attacking religion. And sometimes in more subtle ways. … I recently came across a copy of National Geographic. (I was in a doctor’s […]