There is an old joke about an atheist who goes to shul every Shabbos and sits next to his friend Ginsburg. One day, someone asks the atheist why he keeps coming to services if he doesn’t believe in God. He replies, “Ginsburg goes to shul to talk to God. I go to shul to talkRead More...
When R’ Yosef Mendelevitch was sent to a Soviet prison, among his most precious possessions was a small Rinat Yisrael siddur he smuggled in. He did not know the words of the prayers, and barely knew how to read Hebrew, but the siddur was his connection to God, and he consequently lived in constant fearRead More...
The long Yom Tov season is over and our children are back in school. But what did they learn while they were off? There is no question that young people gain formal education and amass information from their teachers and schools, but the most powerful influence on their character is the model they see fromRead More...
If you live in South Florida, when you hear the word cone this time of year, you don’t think of ice cream, but hurricane highway. When a new storm develops and begins heading towards making landfall, the experts offer their best projections of where it is going and when it will get there. The “coneRead More...
A few years ago, Alan Gilbert, the Conductor of the New York Philharmonic made history, but not for something you would expect. Conductors almost never interrupt a performance, other than truly exceptional circumstances. Gilbert not only stopped the performance, he did something even more. Towards the end of the Philharmonic’s performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony,Read More...
A few weeks ago, I was in the middle of davening Mincha with unusually-focused kavana, when I suddenly heard a bas kol, a heavenly voice proclaim, “Message received.” I was reveling in the news that the combination of my heartfelt expressions of praise, personal requests, and gratitude had in fact been received by the Almighty,Read More...
In a recent article on Huffington Post, a congregational rabbi wrote: If you feel the urge to react to the sound a child makes in a sanctuary, please know that you are welcome to walk out until that feeling subsides. Children are cherished parts of our spiritual lives, not distractions from it. Just this morningRead More...
Last week, my daughter Rachelli and I had the privilege of going with Rabbi and Rebbetzin Pilichowski to the White House Chanukah party. Being together with Jewish leaders from around the country including two Supreme Court Justices, Members of Congress, prominent Rabbis, and accomplished Jewish academics was an amazing and memorable experience. The entire WhiteRead More...
This past Sunday, BRS hosted Ambassador John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and consultant to the Romney campaign. As a non-profit organization, BRS does not endorse any candidate or political party nor do we contribute to any campaign. As I have written previously – what we strongly endorse is being informed andRead More...
Last week, while in NY on the BRS Men’s Club trip, I was very taken by something in the subway. On this particular subway car, there were three ads in a row that all revolved around the same thing – happiness. While marketing different things, all three ads tried to leverage people’s general unhappiness andRead More...
We are living in a time and culture that promote happiness, satisfaction and indulgence. Indeed, we are regularly inundated with messages and marketing such as “obey your thirst,” and “just do it.” In that context it is particularly difficult and onerous to observe a fast and to resist the temptation for food and water forRead More...