BLACK AND WHITE PASSOVER NIGHT By: Suri Davis   In 1978 a joint session of Congress decided that each year on the anniversary of the birth of the Lubavitcher Rebbe there will be Education and Sharing Day.  Today is the Rebbe’s birthday.  Today we lost a vital person in American History, Linda Brown.  There are…

ZAYIN ADAR, MOSHE, ESTHER, PARSHAT ZACHOR AND POLAND By: Suri Davis Zayin Adar is most famously known for being the birth and yahrtzeit/death anniversary of Moshe/Moses.  It is also the yahrtzeit of Queen Esther, whom we read about next week on Purim in the Book of Esther. There are no coincidences in life, so there…

  I was expecting guests/friends from out of town for Shabbos yesterday.  I felt bad that I had to teach at the time they would arrive, so I set the task to my children to greet them and show them to their room. I returned at 9pm, and greeted them and by 10pm it was…

  “I have a simple estate, I don’t need a will, it will all go to my wife anyway.”  Famous last words. Not in New York State, and many other states of the union.  You worked hard to build your estate and leave it to your heirs, planning your estate is the efficient and peaceful…

A BISSEL TORAH: YISRO: TRAVELS AND TRAVAILS By:  Suri Davis   I’m tired.  I want to make early shabbos—starting Wednesday afternoon.  Hehehehe There is a lot to say about the ten commandments in this week’s torah portion, but I’d rather take a broader approach this week. I had some time at NY Law School before…

  In last week’s torah portion, Vaera, we see a progression in G-d’s lesson to Egypt and Pharaoh: Moshe appears to Pharaoh and says, G-d sent me to demand Let My People Go. Pharaoh replies, who is your G-d, I have never heard of Him.  Exodus 5:2. G-d brings in the lice, and Pharaoh’s court…

  This week’s torah portion starts with: “There is a new king ruling Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” How could it be that Joseph had saved Egypt and the region from famine, and the new king did not know Joseph.  He might have known about Joseph, but this king did not KNOW Joseph. The…

  As we approach the winter solstice, one might say it is the darkest day of the year in our hemisphere, or one might say that it is the beginning of longer, lighter days to come. What if the Iranian Ayatollah grabbed the chief rabbi of Iran’s wife, and took her as his own?  There…