Thought of
the week.

To me, true humility means silencing the “I”. For genuinely humble people, it is God, other people, and principles that matter, not themselves. As it was once said of a great religious leader, “He was a man who took God so seriously, that he didn’t have to take himself seriously…

Being of service and helping others is one of the greatest feelings in the world, and it can be extremely rewarding. That being said, it can also be a source of distraction from other tasks that maybe don’t feel as good–yet are equally, or even more important– such as child…

This week commemorates the giving of the Torah, which happened at Sinai, 7 weeks after the Jewish people left Egypt. The Torah is considered the ultimate guide and compass to living a good life, and the stories–whether one believes they are true or not– contain incredible lessons for living a…

I was part of a very interesting conversation this week, where I could have gone either way. The basic question was: does the cream eventually rise to the top, or do we just think this in order to justify why good things happen to bad people– and the converse, of…

Today (actually, depending on when you are reading this, probably yesterday or the day before) is an auspicious day in the Jewish Calendar, called Lag Baomer. The reason Lag Boamer is such an important, favorable day is that it’s the day the students of the great sage Rabbi Akiva stopped…

When it comes to ethical boundaries, the obvious ones are pretty clear: don’t transgress against others, don’t steal, don’t kill, etc. Yet, when it comes to transgressions of a lesser level, how do we hold ourselves accountable? When boundaries aren’t as obvious, how do we keep ourselves on the straight…

Holiness–what exactly is it? Be holy, act in a manner that commands respect and doesn’t demand respect, treat others as you want to be treated; these are all mottos to live by. The most important one for me is the words of the Sage Hillel, “If I’m not for myself,…

I want to talk about our identity. How we dress, who we spend our time with, how much money we make, what club, community, religion–or even sect of a religion– we belong to, holds such an important value in our society, when in truth, it separates us from who we…

Envy… jealously… the thought that shiny objects or the lifestyles of the rich and famous will make you happy… “If I only had such and such”. It’s not about begrudging anyone else. I don’t believe this world is a zero-sum game; God is unlimited and provides for all of us…

I want to talk about guilt vs. shame. I have always understood shame to be ‘I am bad’, and guilt being ‘what I have done is bad or wrong’. When I am bad, I have nowhere to go, I have no way of repenting, because I, myself am useless. However,…