Sweet Talk
Sweet Talk It was a Shabbat when I was about six years old. After the tefillah was over, all the congregants went home, and I was left alone with my friends. One of my friends thought of playing a prank. He walked over to the tzedakah box which contained a few coins and began emptying […]
And Your Children Will Return to Their Border
And Your Children Will Return to Their Border In 1993, a prominent rabbi was killed in a fatal car accident in Eretz Yisrael. This rabbi had been proficient in the revealed and concealed aspects of Torah. He was a tremendous Kabbalist, who delivered shiurim in practical Kabbalah. After he was killed, his family lacked a […]
No Vacation from Education
No Vacation from Education A woman came to me in tears, “Honored Rav, every evening, my two daughters consort with gentile men. I cannot remain silent in the face of it anymore.” Whenever I hear a case of assimilation or intermarriage, my heart constricts with pain. The agony slices my soul as though it were […]
A Tug of Love
A Tug of Love When I was in my thirties, I trimmed my beard a bit, for it seemed too long to me. When Father took note of this, it did not find favor in his eyes, to put it mildly. He tugged at my noticeably shorter beard in a gesture of disapproval. At the […]
Only One Request
Only One Request It was my honor and privilege to participate in the siyum of a bachur in the yeshiva Torat Chaim in Ashdod. During the celebration, the boy’s mother approached me and asked for a blessing for her son. These were her words, “I have one request from Hashem – that my son should […]
Driven Away from Home
Driven Away from Home An unaffiliated Jew wished to demonstrate his pride in his sixteen-year-old son, who had succeeded on a difficult exam. He bought him a small car which did not require a driver’s license. I asked the man why he did not buy his son a set of tefillin instead. “I’ll buy him […]
Like Father, Like Son
Like Father, Like Son A father and son came to see me. The father was full of complaints. “Honored Rav, my son does not pray or learn and causes me indescribable anguish by his terrible acts.” I expected the boy to react, but he remained silent. Upon seeing this, the father reproached him. “Nu,” he […]
Expelling Motherly Instincts
Expelling Motherly Instincts A mother of ten came to me with her dilemma. One of her sons had unfortunately gone off the right path. He spent his time out of the house, coming home only very late at night. Each evening, he would bring home another girlfriend. One time, it was a black, once a […]
Assimilating Torah Truths
Assimilating Torah Truths A French couple sat before me. The woman was overcome with tears and could not utter a single word. When she finally calmed down, she recounted the following: Her only daughter had traveled to Israel to volunteer on a kibbutz for two weeks. There she became acquainted with an Arab. She wanted […]
Man’s Home Is His Beit Hamidrash
Man’s Home Is His Beit Hamidrash A man once approached my father and asked the following: “Many tzaddikim head prestigious yeshivot and produce numerous disciples. But you have no yeshiva to show for yourself. Do you have a yeshiva? Do you have disciples?” Without hesitating for a moment, Father replied, “My yeshiva is my house, […]
Proud to Make Parents Proud
Proud to Make Parents Proud A famous Rosh Yeshiva once visited me with his older son. Painfully, he related that his son was substituting inappropriate outlooks for a Torah life. I asked the son to leave the room so that I could have a few moments alone with his father. After speaking together for some […]
Driving Home My Message
Driving Home My Message As I was once driving with my children through the city traffic, I had a fantastic opportunity to teach them a Torah lesson. As noise and tumult raged in the streets, our car was a cocoon of spirituality. My children and I were blessedly unaware of the goings-on as we listened […]
