Institutionalized Insomnia

The first time that I stayed up learning all night on Shavuos was when I was about 14 years old. We lived in Doncaster, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia and attended a traditional shul, which, until that year did not have a Rabbi.  The shul hired a young Rabbi, an American, Yeshiva University graduate, who had a profound influence on me.  One thing that I recall clearly was Shavuos night ...

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My Child

During this period of social distancing, I was scrolling through pictures saved on my computer. I saw some photos of a trip that my wife and I had taken to Australia to visit my parents, A"H.  As we were boarding the flight I handed our boarding passes to the stewardess, but it was not obvious that my son was standing with me, so she pointed to him and said, “Does he ...

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God Bless America

Abraham’s relationship with God was rooted in a covenant, an agreement between two parties, each having obligations toward the other.  Abraham and his descendants were obligated to practice circumcision, kindness and justice and to have faith in God.  God in turn promised that Abraham’s descendants would maintain a special relationship with Him.  They would be given the Land of Israel and would be a “blessing to all nations of the ...

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