Comforting Thoughts
Comforting Thoughts On a visit to Canada, my hosts prepared a comfortable, spacious room for me on the main floor of their home. There were a number of women, as well as couples, who shared this floor. I therefore requested a room in the basement instead. When my host heard my unusual request, he was […]
Foreign Thoughts
“…And not explore after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray” (Bamidbar 15:39) Rabbi Chananiah S’gan Hakohanim says: Whoever places divrei Torah upon his heart is spared thoughts of sword, hunger, folly, promiscuity, Yetzer Hara, adultery, idle matters, and the burden of flesh and blood. This is in line with the statement […]
The Jew and His Faith – A Winning Combination
The Jew and His Faith – A Winning Combination In 2002, the world-wide soccer games took place for the World Cup. This game is a pursuit of foolishness, not fitting for a Torah-observer. But I feel that everything in this world has a lesson to teach. Even the game of soccer can score a point […]
Checking into Our Actions
Checking into Our Actions A very sick man once asked me to accompany him to the clinic where he was scheduled to be tested. He would undergo hundreds of x-rays on his head, scanning it from every possible angle in order to get a detailed picture of every part of his brain. I escorted him […]
Making Intelligent Choices
Making Intelligent Choices The following incident was a real eye-opener. A woman came to me, asking that I bless her dog with a speedy recovery. I was taken aback at this unusual request, and suggested, “Do you have children? How about if I bless your children?” But she was stubborn. “Rabbi, my children are fine, […]
Better Late than Never
Better Late than Never A fine, orthodox Jew approached me one day, and with a smile and a handshake, asked if I recognized him. I apologized that I did not. I added that he was not the only one whose face I forgot, as I meet so many people throughout the day and cannot possibly […]
A Mussar Lesson
A Mussar Lesson A yeshiva bachur once turned to me in consternation. “Rabbi David,” he began, “why is it that I feel something is missing in my faith in Hashem? I sit all day long learning Torah, but I cannot learn with peace of mind when my mind is constantly occupied with this thought.” I […]
Casualties Should Not be Taken Casually
Casualties Should Not be Taken Casually During the years of the Intifada in Eretz Yisrael, we constantly heard reports of the shaky security situation in the Holy Land. Men, women, and children were wantonly butchered at the hands of terrorists for no other reason than that they belonged to the Jewish nation. We could not […]
Mussar
“My child, do not despise Hashem’s discipline, and do not spurn His reproof” (Mishlei 3:11) “Hold fast to discipline; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life” (ibid. 4:13) “You will groan at your [life’s] end when your flesh and your body perish Then you will say: How could I have hated […]
Unclogging One’s Soul from Unkosher Foods
Unclogging One’s Soul from Unkosher Foods I was once on a plane near a man who sported a chain with a large Magen David. But when the meals were served, he dug into his non-kosher food with gusto and even drank the forbidden wine with relish. Since he was sitting with a group of acquaintances, […]
Non-kosher Food – Teeming with Prohibitions
Non-kosher Food – Teeming with Prohibitions I heard an awful story from a fellow Jew. He was once traveling by plane and was ravenously hungry. Of course, he would not eat from the standard plane meals. But kosher food was not on the itinerary, and he had not brought along anything from home. When his […]
The Calming Effect of Kosher Food
The Calming Effect of Kosher Food As we flew to Morocco to celebrate the hilula of the tzaddik, Rabbi Chaim Pinto, zy”a, we merited witnessing a tremendous kiddush Hashem on the plane. The day before our scheduled departure, I requested one of my escorts to buy some sandwiches, in case anyone of our party had […]
