The Parshah on Fire

What exactly did the spies do wrong? The answer might surprise you.

The sin of the Twelve Spies had more negative ramifications than any other sin in the entire Torah. It wiped out the entire generation. It prolonged the building of the Beis Hamikdash for hundreds of years. It gave birth to what is now called Tisha B'av; the saddest day of the Jewish year. The question is what was so bad about what the Twelve Tribes did? How do their actions explain the amount of...

A little wartime chizzuk

The Jews strangely complain about cucumbers.

Why do some things go after the woman in Judaism and some things go after the man? Is it all random or is there a method to the madness?

Why is it that certain times in Judaism we go after one's mother while other times we go after one's father. One's tribe, one's name, one's inheritance goes after one's father. One's Jewishness and one's firstborn status goes after the mother. Is there a rhyme and reason or is it merely arbitrary? The answer might surpirse you.

Why do we seem to divide the Jewish people with 12 tribes? Why can’t we just have one tribe?

How are Jews still around.

Everybody knows why we celebrate Lag Ba’Omer. But do we really? You might be surprised.

What was so bad with the behavior of Reb Akiva's Talmidim that warranted the mass death of 24,000 people? The answer might surprise you.

Much like the rest of nature, man is immensely selfish. We spend almost 96% of our brainpower thinking about ourselves. That being the case, how is it possible to love someone the same way you love yourself? The answer might surprise you.

The Torah brought the world the kindest book ever written. So why weren’t handicapped people allowed to work in the Bais Hamikdash? What happened to our kindness?

The very first step in V'ahavta L'reacha Kamocha is loving oneself. Proper self-love is the ultimate prerequisite to loving others. What does Jewish self-love look like?

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All 410 years of the first Bais Hamikdash were credited to Aharon. Why? What was it about him specifically? The answer might surprise you.

No sin in the entire Torah is given as much attention as the sin of Loshon Hara/gossip. It is the Proverbial mother of all sins. The King of Iniquities. The question is why? Why is it so bad? How did it climb the mountain of sin and plant itself on the top? The answer might surprise you.

How could the children of the Kohen Gadol act so disobediently on the first day of the Mishkan's installment? The answer might surprise you.

I recently narrowly escaped a fire. Here's my takeaway.

Is there something magical and mystical about those ancient Karbanos- sacrifices, or is there perhaps something about them far simpler? The answer might make you think.

Every single time Hashem spoke to Moshe he would first call out to him with a "Vayikra". Yet the Torah only mentions it in three places. Why? The answer might inspire you.

Contained in the building of the Mishkan was a remarkable lesson for Jews throughout history. How do I tie in suicide, shipwrecks and Japanese bullet trains? Listen to find out.

How did these simple Jews in the desert learn the skills required to build the Mishkan; an extremely intricate and sophisticated building? Weren't these Jews mere slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years? From where did they get the architectural know how to build this complicated building? The answer might surprise you!

How could the Jews, who just prior witnessed God split a Sea and then talk to them from atop a mountain, possibly bow down to a golden calf. What in the world were they thinking? And why did they choose a calf of all animals to serve? Why not something a little more powerful? Like a polar bear or a Komodo dragon? Why a calf? The answer might surprise you. 

The Jews were instructed to build a largely wooden Mishkan in the middle of a barren, lifeless desert. Where exactly did they get the wood from? The answer might surprise you. 

Ever wonder what exactly Pharo saw in us that drove him literally to the brink of insanity? What did the villains of history see in the Jews that filled them with such rage? How does one explain the Jew’s unbelievably unparalleled ability to invoke the passionate hatred of virtually every significant country in world history? What is it about the Jew? The answer may surprise you.