To my dear, precious, and sacred Synagogue: For the last ten weeks I have missed you so. I have longed to be together with our shared friends, united in prayer in your sanctuary, joined in learning in your Beis Medrash, celebrating beautiful simchas in your social hall.  I have yearned to bring our children toRead More...

While we might be starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, it remains unclear when we will reach it. For now, we remain homebound, maximizing distancing and finding ourselves in roles and having responsibilities many of us are not used to. These are no ordinary times and yet, there are countlessRead More...

Prime Minister Netanyahu touted the unveiling of President Trump’s peace plan, including its position on Judea and Samaria, as a historic moment, almost as great as May 14, 1948, when President Truman first recognized the State of Israel.  Whether it indeed proves to be historic or simply a footnote to history has yet to beRead More...

The excitement and anticipation leading up to the recent Siyum HaShas has been matched only by the enormous follow-up coverage that followed it.  There were many take-a-ways, including the great kiddush Hashem that took place.  From New Jersey to London, Los Angeles to South Florida, countless testimonials have come in describing the respectful, courteous behaviorRead More...

As American Jews or Jewish Americans, even if we don’t formally have dual citizenship, we unapologetically feel loyalty, appreciation and devotion to both America and Israel.  But make no mistake, the freedoms we enjoy, both in America and Israel, don’t come without a cost. It is no secret that America and Israel have enemies, adversariesRead More...

Adapted from my remarks at the South Florida Siyum Hashas in memory of Brian Galbut – Baruch Tzvi ben Reuven Nosson – held on January 1, 2020 הודו לה׳ כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו What a magnificent venue.  What a beautiful day.  And what a momentous occasion. Today is special not only because we joinRead More...

Guest Post by Rebbetzin Yocheved Goldberg Recently, when I mentioned to someone that I was attending this year’s annual Rebbetzin Conference hosted by Yeshiva University, she mockingly asked, “What do you do there, exchange potato kugel recipes?” Historically, a Rebbetzin had no particular role and there were no real expectations of her.  She gained herRead More...

So Always Measure Your Words Carefully What if you knew the person or people you were talking to desperately wanted to have a child or would give anything to have another child, but were struggling to make it happen?  Wouldn’t you measure your words more carefully? Wouldn’t you navigate conversations topics more thoughtfully? Wouldn’t youRead More...

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill Lately, I have been thinking about this quote. There are significant and real “difficulties” all around us, as Jews and as Americans.  Within our Orthodox community, we continue to confront scandals that should cause us to reassessRead More...

The following is adapted from my remarks delivered on April 30 at the Boca Raton community gathering of prayer and unity in solidarity with the Chabad community of Poway, California I want to thank Rabbi Bukiet and Chabad of West Boca for hosting tonight’s event.  Tonight, we are all members of Chabad.  I can’t tellRead More...

“Do you know if anyone in his family is taking medications andwhat those medications are for?” “Can you give me the name of a friend of her father and a different friend of her mother I can speak to about her?” “What are the circumstances that led to his parents’ divorce?” “Is anyone in herRead More...

(This article has been updated to remove the husband’s name as shortly after our rally, due to several efforts, the husband finally gave a get) There’s a woman whom I have never met, and you have most likely never met, who desperately needs our help.  Jill has been civilly divorced since October of 2009, butRead More...

This Sermon was delivered at Boca Raton Synagogue on Shabbos, March 16, 2019 Last time I checked, Tel Aviv is not disputed territory in anyone’s book.  It isn’t a “settlement,” “occupied” or an “obstacle to peace.”  When rockets are launched at Tel Aviv, whether someone pushed the button on purpose or by accident, they areRead More...

The ultimate measure of a leader is not where he or she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he or she stands in times of challenge and controversy, when decisions bring about uncomfortable consequences. In a recent post titled “Vaccines and Jewish Leadership Hypocrisy,” a colleague and friend of ours challenges aRead More...

Earlier this week, after much hesitation and deliberation about weighing in on a recent Jewish news story, I wrote the following: My wife is one of the most modest people I know – humble, appropriate, under the radar and tzanua. And… she played the drums at our wedding. Countless people have forwarded the articles aboutRead More...

In January, a fire destroyed the building that housed Yossi Heiman’s Fish Market in Borough Park, Brooklyn, leaving him with no place to operate his business and no ability to draw income. Shea Langsam owns a similar store, Fish to Dish, just a few blocks away.  One would have thought that as sympathetic as heRead More...

Adapted from a Sermon delivered at Boca Raton Synagogue January 19, 2019 – Shabbos Parshas Beshalach Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we will mark this Monday, spoke powerfully about the danger and potential damage of silence.  He once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  OnRead More...

This week marks the much-anticipated and highly-celebrated time on the Jewish calendar – Yeshiva Week, when many Jewish day schools and yeshivos give vacation and it feels like a significant percentage of the Jewish world goes on pilgrimage to Florida.  There are many beautiful aspects to welcoming so many fellow Jews to our community.  ForRead More...

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of neighborhood minyanim that serve as alternatives to attending Shul.  Some of these minyanim rotate between homes, while others are in fixed locations.  Some meet only Friday nights while others also meet for Mincha and Maariv on Shabbos/Motzei Shabbos as well.  All were started for convenience: forRead More...

LeBron James has a following on Instagram more populous than 203 countries.  When nearly 46 million people sign up to read everything you have to say, you have a responsibility to be extra thoughtful, careful and mindful of what you post.  LeBron is well aware of the platform he has, as he mentioned in hisRead More...

Imagine not being invited for Shabbos dinner and going home from shul to eat all alone.  You eat, you read, you read some more and when you look at the clock, it’s not even 8:00 pm. For some that sounds like a dream come true, and maybe it is for one week. But what ifRead More...

Earlier this week, the employee helping me in a store used my name.  I was taken aback and asked how he knew my name.  He smiled and told me he remembered it from the last time I was there.  I don’t go to that store very often and hadn’t been there for a while. IRead More...

In the climactic scene of Erich Segal’s classic 1970 novel “Love Story,” the protagonist Oliver says what have become iconic words: “Love means never having to say you are sorry.” Though Segal was the son and grandson of rabbis and went to yeshiva himself, this approach to love is in fact very far from ourRead More...

This week marked the fourth yahrzeit of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali, the three boys tragically kidnapped and murdered in the summer of 2014.  Their disappearance and subsequent deaths united our people, not only in Israel, but around the world.  Jews in communities across the globe felt connected, bound by a shared history and destiny. ForRead More...

A few years ago, I went to see Rav Eli Sadan, the Rosh Yeshiva of Bnei David, a Mechina in Eli.  Maj. Roi Klein z”l, the hero who threw his body over a hand grenade in the 2006 Lebanon war to save his fellow soldiers, was a graduate of Bnei David.  So was Lt. HadarRead More...

The startling findings of a recent Jewish People Policy Institute study drew an Ha’aretz headline of “Low Marriage Rates and Intermarriage Threaten Future of U.S. Jewry” and an Arutz Sheva’s headline asking, “Is there a future for non-Orthodox American Jewry?” The study found that outside of Orthodoxy, fewer Jews are getting married, those marrying areRead More...

How many people do you know who fast on the 20th of Sivan?  The likely answer is zero.  It is not one of the minor fast days, and obviously not Tisha B’av or Yom Kippur, so why would anyone fast? Twice in our history, the 20th of Sivan was designated as a permanent fast dayRead More...

Last March, I tore my Achilles tendon and needed surgery.  The tear, surgery, and rehab were uncomfortable, but having to miss the annual AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington was painful.  I lay in bed on painkillers, security pass and credentials around my neck, watching the conference live on my laptop.  Not only did I missRead More...

At so many points during this past month, I have not known whether to laugh or cry.  As I was assaulted with emails, texts, voicemails, social media campaigns, and numerous videos spewing outrageous and hateful lies, I laughed out loud because of the ridiculousness, preposterousness, and absurdity of what was being said.  When I readRead More...

Fake news doesn’t distinguish between parties or victims.  At the end of his term, former President Obama bemoaned the explosion of fake news and current President Trump has referenced the phrase often since entering office.  This month, lawmakers introduced two bills that would legislate schools to teach students how to distinguish fake news from theRead More...

What was supposed to be a Chanukah week of joy and happiness has in fact been challenging and difficult.  On the very holiday celebrating our liberation from the Syrian Greeks occupying our most sacred space, Har HaBayis, the Temple Mount, the UN Security Council passed a resolution declaring that we are in fact illegally occupyingRead More...

With 5,600 rabbis serving in over 90 countries one would have thought that Chabad had the entire United States covered, yet they only placed a rabbi in the 50th state last week. South Dakota may only be home to about 400 Jews, but that isn’t stopping Rabbi Mendel and Mussie Alperowitz from buying one-way tickets,Read More...

For some time, the cost of Jewish education has been labeled a crisis.  While it feels like this issue has been addressed ad nauseam, believe it or, it is still being debated.  Our own Rabbi Adam Englander penned an article describing how KHDS was able to freeze tuition and even lower it.  Gershon Distenfeld, ChairmanRead More...

  nor·mal adjective: conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected. The people in Camp HASC are not “normal” in that they are anything but typical or usual. HASC campers include those in their 50’s and 60’s, wheelchair-bound, individuals with feeding tubes, and with every imaginable special need including intellectual and physical disabilities. The needsRead More...

Jews of diverse backgrounds, denominations and levels of observance seem to all observe yahrzeits of their loved ones based on the Hebrew calendar, not the Gregorian one. And yet, when it comes to birthdays and anniversaries, it seems few Jews—even observant ones—know, let alone commemorate, the Hebrew date of these significant milestones in their lives.Read More...

I often find myself envious of people who live in a world of black and white and for whom everything seems so simple and clear. It would much easier not to struggle, feel torn or grapple with complexity and uncertainty. And yet, being truthful to Torah and to ourselves often demands not taking the easyRead More...

  On June 6, over 2,000 people attended the Boca Raton Jewish community Unity Day Event. These remarks were delivered there. “Can he unite the party?” “Can she unite the party?” Everyone is talking about unity these days. But it is a unity with an agenda, to win in November. Tonight, we gather with noRead More...

How many people do you know who fast on the 20th of Sivan?  The likely answer is zero.  It is not one of the minor fast days, and obviously not Tisha B’av or Yom Kippur, so why would anyone fast? Twice in our history, the 20th of Sivan was designated as a permanent fast dayRead More...

Since the very creation of the luxury Pesach program, rabbis have been railing against them for their excessiveness, extravagance, and the forfeiting of many of the traditions involved in preparing and experiencing Pesach. Ironically, many of those same rabbis have later “eaten their words” and accepted invitations to serve as scholars in residence, bringing theirRead More...

What is the measure of a great community? What are the metrics and tools we use to evaluate the success of a society? In this week’s parsha, Mishpatim, the Torah tell us that we must not cause pain or suffering to a widow or orphan. So strict is this law, that God promises that oneRead More...

The former CEO of Timberland, Jeffrey Swartz, has made numerous contributions to both his industry in particular and the corporate world generally. In addition to focusing on profits, revenue, and the financial bottom line, Swartz was among the first to emphasize a corporation’s social responsibility and duty. In his first “Corporate Social Responsibility Report,” issuedRead More...

BRS Segula Fund and Support Group The BRS Segula fund was created by Michele and Chayim Dimont with the goal of alleviating the financial burden associated with the prohibitive costs of infertility treatments. Segula offers interest-free loans to couples in our community experiencing this monetary hardship. The loans are paid back only when the familyRead More...

Death is a highly uncomfortable and awkward subject. As a result, most people do all they can to avoid the subject altogether. While we would prefer to see ourselves as living forever, the Torah instructs us that, in fact, reflecting on our mortality and being mindful of our transience are critical to living an inspiredRead More...

Recently, the United States Holocaust Museum asked my synagogue to host an event of theirs. So this past Wednesday night, we hosted Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic for a conversation about anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world, a topic he has researched extensively and recently written about. Growing anti-Semitism is a universal concern forRead More...

I wrote the following letter to the BRS family after attending the send off of Ezra Schwartz H’yd at Ben Gurion Airport: Dear BRS Family, The term levaya, which we use to describe a funeral service, means to accompany. At Ben Gurion Airport tonight, hundreds gathered to accompany Ezra Schwartz Hy”d to the flight thatRead More...

“Do you know if anyone in his family is taking medications and what those medications are for?” “Can you give me the name of a friend of her father and a different friend of her mother I can speak to about her?” “What are the circumstances that led to his parents’ divorce?” “Is anyone inRead More...

Two years ago, due to a very rare intersection of the Jewish and Gregorian calendars, Thanksgiving coincided with the first day of Chanukah resulting in a day that was popularly referred to as Thanksgivukkah. This week, similar to last year, a different overlap which occurs much more often will take place as Halloween falls onRead More...

The previous Guinness World Record for the longest hug had stood at 24 hours and 33 minutes. This past week, two Iowa State University students shattered that record and maintained a hug for 31 straight hours. When asked what motivated them they explained, “There wasn’t really anything that inspired us; we were just kind ofRead More...

The Jewish community is undeniably split regarding the highly controversial Iran deal. Sadly, rather than focusing on advocating the merits or demerits of the deal, too many on both sides of the issue have resorted to ad-hominem attacks, name calling, questioning of motives and dismissing the positions of others as just politics. This week’s TorahRead More...

I have an investment opportunity for you with a guaranteed return. It will yield dividends for years to come and has absolutely no risk. Are you interested? Someone once asked Baron Edmond de Rothschild about his net worth.  He turned to his personal assistant to come up with a calculation.  The assistant returned with aRead More...

Five years ago, I was in a store when an eight-year-old boy from our community saw me, came over, and said one word: “Rabbi.” The encounter not seeming all that unusual, I didn’t think anything of it until later that evening when the boy’s mother texted me to say that I had witnessed a miracle.Read More...

Disney World’s slogan is “The Happiest Place on Earth.”  Perhaps the greatest part about the Magic of Disney is not the souvenirs, the rides, the characters, or even the memories. To me, the most magical part of Disney is simply how nice everyone is to one another and how happy everyone seems. It is hardRead More...

Each week I look forward to the coming Shabbos and the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful meal filled with my wife’s delicious delicacies and surrounded by my family and usually lots of guests. When else in this hectic world of obligations and distractions do we sit for hours on end completely disconnected from technology andRead More...

The holiday of Pesach in general and the Seder in particular are not just about recounting a seminal event in Jewish history. Each year, Pesach is a time designated to focus on that which enslaves us and holds us in bondage today and to seek in our own lives the freedom and liberty that ourRead More...

In a recent, highly controversial blog post, “Please G-d, Help me to understand why we must pray for a Third Temple!” the author offers arguments in the form of a prayer to God against the reinstatement of animal sacrifices and bluntly asks, “Is the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem what is best for us?”Read More...

“Intermarriage is a fact of life and we should be more welcoming when it happens.” That was part of the reaction of the chief executive officer of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism to a recent controversial decision made by the leadership of the youth wing of the movement, United Synagogue Youth. At the annualRead More...

Earlier, this week, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks addressed an assembly of the high schools of our community. He was introduced beautifully by ninth grader Jonah Tripp who said, “To me, Rabbi Sacks is known as a permanent fixture in my home. His books line our shelves and our family so often quotes him at ourRead More...

Many of our young men and women of marriageable age assume that when a couple decides it is time to start a family, it is simple to conceive and bring a healthy baby into the world. In fairness, they have good reason for making that assumption. Growing up they often hear “mazel tov”s and seeRead More...

(Guest Post by Rebbetzin Yocheved Goldberg) In the wake of the recent horrific rabbinic scandal there has been a loud call for the inclusion of more women’s voices in the administration of the Mikvah, involvement in conversion protocols, oversight of the rabbi, and leadership of the Jewish community. There is no doubt that women haveRead More...

Last year, due to a very rare intersection of the Jewish and Gregorian calendars, Thanksgiving coincided with the first day of Chanukah resulting in a day that was popularly referred to as Thanksgivukkah. This week a different overlap which occurs much more often will take place as Halloween falls on Friday Night. While Thanksgivukkah wasRead More...

Shocked, devastated, pained, violated, outraged, and anxious are just some of the understandable reactions to the despicable scandal that broke last week.  As has been pointed out, the mikvah is the most sacred space in a community: a place of purity, vulnerability, and exposure.  If the allegations are true, the conduct of the rabbi whoRead More...

  This past Sunday of Chol HaMoed, owing to the great generosity of the Kohlhagen family, our Boca Raton Synagogue community had the distinct honor of welcoming two Sifrei Torah into our collection. While all Torah scrolls are sacred and worthy of our love and affection, the extraordinary story of one of these Sifrei TorahRead More...

It is fifteen years later and I still vividly remember how offended and insulted I felt. In my second year studying at YU’s Gruss Kollel in Israel, I joined a separate program twice a week that focused on training outreach professionals. I was the one YU guy among an otherwise homogenous group of “Yeshivish” youngRead More...

Please forgive me if I don’t send a mass email or group text message or Facebook post asking everyone for mechila. Also forgive me if I see you in the next few days and don’t shoot a “I am mocheil you, I hope you are mocheil me” your way.   I will not be doing so,Read More...

  “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…a time to keep silent and a time to speak.” The wisdom in this song is not for the Byrds, it comes from the wisest of all men, King Shlomo. While the picture of many shiva homes today filledRead More...

It is hard to believe that a week has already passed since we first heard the shocking news that three teenage Israeli boys had been kidnapped by terrorists.   There is a collective pain and agony we all feel, Jews around the world united by our worry, fear and concern. It is truly tragic that itRead More...

I was recently having a conversation with someone I know that is an active member of a mega-Church with tens of thousands of members and multiple satellite locations. Curious about how they support the tremendous infrastructure, I asked him how much dues cost. He responded that there are no dues because the Church budget isRead More...

How many people do you know who fast on the 20th of Sivan?  The likely answer is zero.  It is not one of the minor fast days, and obviously not Tisha B’av or Yom Kippur, so why would we fast? Twice in our history, the 20th of Sivan was designated as a permanent fast dayRead More...

The debate about immigration reform heated up again this week with the President and Republican leadership publicly sparring over who is to blame for a lack of progress in an area that all agree is critically important to the future of our country. Immigration is as controversial and emotionally driven a topic as any, withRead More...

Last week, I had the privilege of joining 30 lay and professional leaders from South Florida on the Jewish Leadership Coalition’s 2nd annual mission to Tallahassee. Florida law allows corporations to receive a dollar for dollar tax credit when they donate funds to the Step Up For Students scholarship program, which provides scholarships to childrenRead More...

Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, is well-known for his anti-Israel and anti-Zionist positions.  He has characterized Israel as a “racist” state and described it as “basically an apartheid system in creation.” In an article in the Chicago Tribune, he wrote, “Israel is a state that has a powerful army withRead More...

Just a few weeks ago, at an “Ask the Rabbi” class, one of our members posed the following question to me: “Rabbi, I notice you are active on social media, including Facebook and Twitter.  What is your thinking?  What are you trying to accomplish?”  Even more recently, in response to the promotion of our BRSRead More...

Dear Josh, I appreciate your response to my recent column and enjoy the opportunity to engage in lively discourse about a topic that is clearly close to your heart.  The passion with which you wrote and the articulateness you bring to your arguments are a testament, I believe, to your family, our Boca schools, andRead More...

A prominent Modern Orthodox high school announced this week that girls who want to wear tefillin during davening at school would be permitted to do so.  Not to be outdone, a second school quickly proclaimed that they, too, would allow it.  News spread like wildfire and the headlines quickly went from, “Modern Orthodox Girls FightRead More...

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, approximately 800,000 children younger than 18 are reported missing each year.  That means close to 2,200 children a day or 91 children every hour are reported missing in the United States.  And yet, I don’t remember a story catching the attention of the Jewish communityRead More...

I recently spent a couple of days at Disneyworld with my sister and brother and their families, who were visiting from Israel.  As we walked through the parks, a few of my nephews and nieces independently shared the same observation: “Why are people in America so fat?”  While their comment may not be politically correctRead More...

How do you say the word history in Biblical hebrew? What word does the Torah use for history? It doesn’t, and there is none. We have a word in modern Hebrew – historia, but there is no Biblical word for history. Instead, the word the Torah uses is zecher – memory. The pasuk in Ha’azinuRead More...

This week brought the latest in the string of scandals among so-called Orthodox Rabbis.  The former Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel was arrested for committing fraud, bribery, money laundering, breach of trust, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice.  A few days later, a Chassidic Rebbe from Yerushalayim was arrested in New York forRead More...

Guest Post: Rebbetzin Yocheved Goldberg “Quieting the Noise in our Lives to Find what Really Matters: My Reflections from the Rebbitzen’s Yarchei Kallah” This past week I attended the annual Yeshiva University Yarchei Kallah conference for Rebbetzins.  Each year, I cherish the opportunity to gather with women from around the United States and beyond, and workRead More...

For most of our history, the expression “roll call” did not have positive connotations for the Jewish people.  Daily roll call during the Holocaust, for example, meant standing still, possibly for hours, and wearing a thin uniform, often in freezing conditions.   Today, there are two annual roll calls that I try to listen to andRead More...

Can a community ever have too many Kosher restaurants?  Is there a point in which the market is saturated and the addition of another establishment will hurt the viability of the existing ones?  Should the local Kosher supervising agency legislate issues of competition, or should they allow a free market in which the consumer determinesRead More...

(Adapted from a Derasha delivered on Parshas Vayeira 5774) A little over a month ago, BRS emailed our members our newly adopted Civility Statement that reads as follows: In the spirit of our mission “Valuing Diversity and Celebrating Unity,” we believe that a community is built on the collective engagement of individuals representing differing perspectives,Read More...

In an attempt at humor, a Jewish parody blog ran the following headline this week: “In a rare moment of achdus (unity), Ultra-Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews rejoiced at the news that a Modern Orthodox group had finally made a chillul Hashem (desecration of God’s name).” The author was referring to a story that made itsRead More...

“So, when are the skeletons in your closet going to emerge?  When is your scandal going to break, Rabbi?”  These were the questions I was asked by a friend after a week in which three major Rabbinic scandals came to light.  Over just a few days, it was discovered that the Chief Rabbi of aRead More...

The moment Shoshie Stern’s extended family heard about her tragic passing, they dropped whatever they were doing and made their way to South Florida to be here with their family.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all descended upon the Stern home to shed a tear and lend a shoulder. Shoshie’s recent 12th birthday was certainlyRead More...

Earlier this week, I was invited to speak at a Synagogue in Boynton Beach on the subject of “A Vision for Orthodoxy in the Next One Hundred Years.” I began by telling the assembled group that I wasn’t even sure what was happening next week and was certainly not so presumptuous to assume I couldRead More...

Disney World’s slogan is “The Happiest Place on Earth,” and this week, many families enjoying their Yeshiva week vacation in one of Disney’s many parks or programs would likely agree. Perhaps the greatest part about the Magic of Disney is not the souvenirs, the rides, the characters, or even the memories. To me, the mostRead More...

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to make good on an important promise, and in so doing, to follow in the footsteps of our forefathers.   When Yaakov Avinu anticipated that he would soon leave this world, he summoned his beloved son Yosef, and asked him to make a promise: “Vayikra livno l’Yosef vayomer loRead More...

A pediatrician from the area shared a remarkable story with me this week.  In 2005, when Hurricane Wilma struck, many people and businesses lost power for an extended period of time, including this doctor.  She was unable to practice or care for her patients.  Out of nowhere, she received a call from our very ownRead More...

It is not every day that you pull up to a Kosher restaurant in Boca Raton and discover two black SUV’s with tinted windows in the parking lot and Secret Service agents at the entrance. At first, I thought they were there to protect Yocheved and me on our dinner date and help us getRead More...

If unity were easy, everyone would be practicing it. If it didn’t require compromise, concession or cooperation, it wouldn’t be such a big deal to call for unity. Unity, achdus, is difficult and challenging, and practicing it can sometimes feel lonely. Our tradition states clearly that the main cause of God’s withdrawal from His BeisRead More...

By now, you have likely heard about the Internet Asifa, the large gathering of Orthodox Jews at Citi Field a few weeks ago to address the dangers of the Internet.  The gathering included some harsh and strict proclamations, such as it is forbidden to have Internet in the home and it is only permissible toRead More...

Things are rumored to slow down in South Florida after Pesach, but this past week and a half it certainly didn’t feel like it. Those who attended our annual Yom Ha’Shoah program were moved deeply by the incredible story of German born Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger. At a young age, he discovered that his father wasRead More...

(This post has been redacted to eliminate the names of the people involved in the story below.) “Let my people go!” This refrain, introduced by Moshe in Egypt when he appealed to Pharaoh to liberate the Jewish people from bondage, has not only been referenced throughout Jewish history, but has been embraced by multiple peoplesRead More...

Eleven Rabbis from across North America gathered in Boca this week for a day and a half of meetings, under the auspices of the Orthodox Union.  The Legacy Group, as we have affectionately been titled by OU leadership, convenes twice a year to discuss and compare what is happening in our communities, commiserate over challenges,Read More...

If I had a dollar for every email I received this week reminding me to recite the parshas ha’mann, as a segullah for parnassah, I would no longer need a parnassah.   You see in this week’s parsha, the Torah describes the miraculous, supernatural manna that fell each day from heaven, providing the Jewish people theirRead More...

I had the privilege of attending three brises this week, but only two of them were open to the public. Mazel tov to the Hilfs and Sugermans on welcoming their new sons into the covenant of Avraham Avinu. It is the third bris, though, the one which was only open to a select few, thatRead More...