Maimonides tells us that what separates man from animal is that man talks/adam medaber. It means that man is rational. He can think out his thoughts in a rational fashion, filter out what needn’t be said, and use tact for what is said. In last night’s debate between presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton,…
Category: Lectures
A Bissel Torah: Vayelech
This parshah discusses preparations for Moses’ death. Last week we discussed how parshat Nitzavim set forth the emotional distress Moses was in at facing the fact that he would not bring the Jews into Israel, their destiny. He was distraught because he foresaw that the Jews would continue to sin, and he would not be…
Baby You Look Good To Me!
So why is it considered cute on newborns? Slumped over – Cute! Bald- Adorable! Chubby thighs- Delicious! Can we try and be that forgiving to everyone else? Obviously it must be the fact that newborns can make such interesting conversation, or are so considerate, and are so other directed! Is that what makes us willing…
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Divorce
Social media has gone wild with the breakup of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Headlines scream out “The Planet Is Shocked”; “Fans Mourn Brad and Angelina’s split”; “Cheer on Jennifer Aniston.” The divorce of Hollywood’s golden couple has caused a tsunami of gossipy speculation, catching more than the usual attention by Twitter and Facebook…
A Bissel Torah: Ki Tavo
The parshah almost appears to be a repetition of parshat Bechukotai, if you follow G-d’s commandments, you will be rewarded, and if you don’t follow G-d’s commandments, then you will be punished. A recurring theme in any religion. Let’s review some interesting points up close. For forty years, the Jews were in the…
Storing Legal Documents
The last place you want to put legal documents is in a bank’s safe deposit box. Why? Because if you need them before or after business hours, they will not be available. Furthermore, when the holder of the safe deposit box dies, the box is frozen, and a court order is required to access…
A Bissel Torah: Ki Teizei: A Vision Board
Who am I? What am I? This parshah is replete with miniature paragraphs on what to do when you find yourself in different life situations. How to treat a wife, how to treat a woman that you find amongst your enemies during war, how to be merciful with a bird, how to be merciful to…
Yay or Nay!!!
Recipes are the hottest thing! I grew up flavoring by “feel”. In other words, if You felt like pouring something in, you did! Really -my mother has this gift for flavoring things and I just copied that. Which I think she got from her mom. My sister, in fact, once tried to watch…
A Rash of Doing Nothing
This summer my practice experienced numerous cases where people failed to act. They failed to write a will, appoint a health care agent and determine who was going to get jewelry and art collections. There is a false notion that if one is married with children, and there is no will, when one dies,…
Missing My Mother, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis
To the world she was a survivor and trailblazing visionary. To me and my siblings she was our mother who was always there for us. by Slovie JungreisWolff These are most difficult words for me to write. Today I got up from sitting shiva for my beloved mother, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis. For seven days…