Good & Evil
One lights candles, while the other tries to snuff them out.
People are afraid of good and evil. As a matter of fact, people are often more afraid of good than they are of evil. Good compels you to be good, but evil doesn’t compel you to be anything. You may deny evil, or even ignore it; but you cannot be indifferent to good. We like to believe that there are no absolutes. But just because we like to believe doesn’t mean those beliefs are true. Absolutes can be broken down into actions: a good deed (charity) is absolute good; an evil act (hate) is absolute evil. Do more good deeds than evil and the world becomes good. Absolutely.
Purim: An Open Letter to a Concealed G-d
We have lived in the dark long enough. It’s high time to take off Your mask and cloak, and show us Your face.
Read More
Bamidbar: Unconditional Love
We need to get beyond the labels and stereotypes that divide, and treat fellow Jews as our own family.
Read More
Vayikra: Absolute Evil?
The question becomes not how or why can evil exist in the presence of a benevolent G-d, but what allowed for it to emerge in the first place, and above all: What are we to do about it?
Read More
Vayishlach: Hypocrisy
Instead of seeing hypocrisy in our inconsistencies, we should be seeing in them our struggle to discover our true selves—a struggle that inevitably creates a dichotomy between what you believe and what you do.
Read More
Vayeishev: Madoff And Holtzberg
If money is the source of your power and security, than money will also be your source of destruction and disgrace. Because after all, money is transient, and anything transient can never provide the firm foundation of security.
Read More
Vayeitzei: Responding To Mumbai
Rabbi Simon Jacobson discusses the tragic 2008 killing of the Holtzbergs, Chabad shluchim, in Mumbai, India.
Read More
Toldot: Beyond Life And Death
My granddaughter just arrived from another world, and has brought us a message of hope. Despite the tragic losses and senseless pain, beyond the incomprehension of it all, life is born yet again.
Read More
Vaetchanan: Comfort My People
Many tears indeed can be shed for our children whose lives are prematurely “hijacked” by the demons of abuse and drugs; bright futures suddenly aborted; robbed of their possibilities; injured psyches.
Read More
Beyond Virtue
In practical terms being holy means going out of your comfort zone and conventional behavior.
Read More
