The Gift You Were Born to Give Anyone with familiarity with Jewish communities knows that capital campaigns are par for the course. The first Jewish fund-raising drive in history is when Moses asks the people to contribute to the Tabernacle, the portable synagogue accompanying the Jews throughout the desert and even when they first entered […]

Putting in Your Personal Touch Have you ever put together something from Ikea? Their instructions are a series of pictures without any accompanying explanatory text. It would have been helpful if we had been given even minimal textual prompts, but the decision was made that this is how they are going to instruct their customers, and […]

Imagine hearing about a woman who works tirelessly to make sure every child in her city has access to milk for breakfast. You learn that she personally brings fresh milk to countless families every day, even in the nastiest weather. What would you think about her? We might count her among the righteous people in […]

 This week’s Parsha gives instructions for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a portable synagogue designated as the place where the Almighty’s Presence would rest. They took it with them throughout their 40 year stay in the desert and rebuilt it in four different locations in the Land of Israel. The Jews fought many wars to take hold of […]

 The information age has placed a particular emphasis on data. Whatever question we have, we expect that someone already answered our question and posted it online. If we want to know a particular statistic, we expect that it exists and all we need is a google search to find it. A recent article discusses how this trend […]

I had intended on writing about a different subject but a profound experience Wednesday morning has led my mind in a different direction. We are in Pittsburgh because my close friend and colleague Rabbi Alisar Admon is being honored at a dinner this evening. I can’t remember the last time I went to an institutional […]

The following incident occurred in 12th century France. A person sold tin roofing materials to his neighbor. When the neighbor examined the tin sheets, he discovered a layer of pure silver under the tin coating. The seller claimed the silver was his because the buyer had only intended to purchase a tin sheet; that’s all he […]

This week’s Torah portion deals with the commandment to build a Tabernacle in the wilderness. We encounter a textual difficulty in the first two verses: G-d spoke to Moses saying, “Take for Me a portion from everyone whose heart motivates him, you shall take my portion.” (25:1-2) A literal translation of the verse would read […]

The Torah reading this week gives the instructions for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a portable sanctuary (i.e .spiritual center) in the midst of the desert; it was the place where the Divine Presence would rest wherever the Jews happened to be. They took it with them throughout their 40 year stay in the desert and […]

G-d spoke to Moshe, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me; from every man whose heart desires [to give], take my offering.’ (ibid. 25:1-2)