By Rabbi Tzvi Freeman In a faraway land lived three sisters whose mother had left them beautiful long and elegant dresses of fine and rare material. They cherished these dresses dearly until, one day, they heard that in America the style was to wear short skirts. Now their dresses no longer seemed so beautiful. The youngest sister said, “I will […]

By Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Quick: Tell me something you can give the world that doesn’t come from your genes, your parents, your teachers, your friends, your society, your nature or your nurture. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? That’s what the world would like you to think. The world wants you to think that nothing comes out of a human being that […]

By Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Dear Rabbi, My doctor recommended that I take up some type of meditation, mentioning “mindfulness” as one option. I understand that this particular meditation is connected to idolatry. Are there Jewish meditation techniques I could use? Answer: Mindfulness is a Jewish idea and it is called kavanah. Take one page of the siddur (prayerbook), and learn […]

By Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Be Hole Consider the common association between Jews and bagels for breakfast. Myself, I’m a quinoa-and-avocado man. Nevertheless, mentally constructing a scene in which I invite my Catholic, Protestant, Muslim or Daoist friends to drop by for breakfast, my paranoid Jewish soul hears them translating, “That means bagels and cream cheese.” What does chewy bread with […]

The Holocaust has commonly been conceived of as a revolt against reason, the ultimate example of the “irrational,” designed and executed by the pathologically insane. But if reason was the object of the revolt, it was also the chief ally, a dialectic so monstrously rational that it could override all the traditional bounds of morality. The Holocaust was not so […]

Dear Rabbi, If G‑d is a mystery to us, beyond human reason and logic, then how can we relate to Him? Answer: You’re right, G‑d is essentially unknowable. Yes, He makes Himself known to us through His miracles, His prophets, His Torah, and by the very act of creating and sustaining our world and our very existence. But none of […]

Chabad House of Hendon special guest Haran Wolfowitz Yaffe stands with Rabbi Gershon Overlander, Chabad House Director after Yaffe’s inspiring and moving talk to some 50 people last Sunday evening at Chabad House about his story of horrific injury and miraculous recovery. After his APC had been hit by a Hezbollah missile in the 2nd Lebanon war, Yaffe had been […]

The Response Box Whenever someone asks me a question, I first have to think, “What kind of a box has this guy trapped me in?” Then I can deconstruct the box. If the box dissolves, there goes the question. If it doesn’t dissolve, I better listen up. The guy’s got a point. Here comes one now: “Rabbi, what was the Rebbe’s […]

Dear Rabbi, On the verse (Genesis 31:17), “So Jacob rose, and he lifted up his sons and his wives upon the camels,” I read that the sages contrast this with Esau’s actions in a later verse (ibid. 36:6), “And Esau took his wives, his sons, and his daughters and all the people of his household,” concluding that Jacob “placed the […]