Thought of the Week

The Torah shares a wild story of ten men, all of status, humility, and integrity. These men are respected by all as devout and faithful to God, and are chosen to check out the promised land of Israel and report back on their findings. Instead of returning and reporting positively or accurately, they report with…

One of my favorite parts of Judaism is that it encourages us to question, to doubt, to grapple, to seek, and to find the deeper meaning.  This doesn’t give us permission to not follow the rules, yet it gives us permission to question them. Judaism challenges us to not just be a lame duck, yet…

  I dare say that we all want to know the future, what will be, how it will all turn out, and what our fortune is to be. On the flip side, we all want to know what challenges we may have, etc.  Many times, I have met with people who have shared with me…

R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi’s Tanya said that if we change the way we think, we will change the way we feel.  Cognitive behavioral therapy calls this reframing.  Viktor Frankl, Auschwitz survivor and the founder of Logotherapy describes our ability to reframe as the only true human choice. He states that “they” can take away everything…

“Sometimes the worst mistakes we make are when we project our feelings onto others” – Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Lately, I have been contemplating the breakdown in society and how radically separated we have all become, and I wonder what I can do to bring us closer together. How can I get us to see each other’s…

Gandhi famously said, “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history”. Additionally, there is a Jewish quote that has had a huge impact on me: “Even if a knife is pointed at your neck, do not give up hope”. I have met numerous…

Commitment is a huge word, and is such an important component in all of our lives. The question is: How do we hold ourselves accountable to our commitments? In my past, I have made countless resolutions—sometimes daily, sometimes annually (think New Year’s resolutions)—only to not make it last longer than a week or a month…

In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “the highest status is not to care about status, and that influence is more powerful than power!” How many times have we taught by telling others to do as I say, instead of what I do? True power and true education come from influence, which is doing as…

When is it okay to lie? Or for that matter, is it ever really okay to lie? In the Torah, we see that Joseph’s brothers lied to him when asking for forgiveness. They told him that their father’s dying wish was for Joseph to forgive his brothers for the horrible misdeed of selling him into…

  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 and narrow? A simple,…