Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

Dear Gracie, In a few days, it will be my second time celebrating Father’s Day as your dad. What a gorgeous and, at the same time, heartbreaking year it has been. Read more...

 “A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven… A time for weeping and a time for laughing.  A time for mourning and a time for dancing” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3:4).  Read more...

Why is the festival of Shavuot called "the time of the giving of our Torah" and not the time of the receiving of our Torah?  Because the giving of the Torah happened at one specified time, but the receiving of the Torah happens at every time and in every generation.                                                             – Rabbi Meir Alter of Ger  Read more...

Each year as Yom Yerushalayim approaches, I am flooded with memories and questions. Permit me to share both with you. I was in Jerusalem on the day of its reunification and I went to the Western Wall with more than 100,000 Israelis but 6 days later to celebrate Shavuot and what seemed then like Israel’s miraculous victory. Read more...

Long before cancel culture was even in the lexicon, my brother and I decided to cancel Mother’s Day. We were rebellious teens and had incorrectly read that the holiday was invented by Hallmark to drive sales. As vociferous individualists against commercialism, we took a personal stand. Our plan was not well received. My father was furious, and my mother was destroyed. To this day, I still remember the tears gathering in her eyes as we explained why there would be no cards or gifts. I thought she would never forgive us. Read more...