So many books have been written about leadership. And yet, to the best of my knowledge, there are no classic Torah books dedicated exclusively to the topic. This is puzzling, since the Torah itself—in the Chumash, the Talmud and all of our holy sources—is replete with wisdom on how to be a good leader. Why, […]
Covid-19 has impacted every area of our lives—the way we pray, the way we think, the way we learn and the way we socialize. What are the lessons we can draw from the radically altered lives we are living?
How innovation and chesed defined the Jewish community’s response to Covid-19
How will we be able to survive? What sources of strength might we be able to access as we ponder the shape of our lives in the months and years ahead?
Exploring the Jewish response to the Crusades and how the resilience and spiritual fortitude of those communities can serve as lessons for us today
How the Jewish community of Prague, the largest Jewish settlement in pre-Modern Christian Europe, coped with a devastating plague in 1713
The key to a more blissful life, if such a thing is ever possible, is having lowered [material] expectations; albeit, we should have great expectations spiritually.
Jews have been able to bring the light of humor to even the darkest of times. We survive because we tell jokes, jokes that allow us to laugh even when tragedy, up to the point of death, threatens.
How is resilience possible? What factors contribute to a greater likelihood for resilience following trauma?
The closing words of Megillat Esther describe Mordechai as doresh tov leammo. Literally, that means he sought the good of his people. In the spirit of Rabbi Lamm’s playful puns, however, I say: Rabbi Norman Lamm was a doresh tov, a great darshan—and all that he did, he did for the sake of his people and for the sake of Torah.
Jewish Action: When did you first meet Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm? Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman: Growing up in a Modern Orthodox family I always knew Rabbi Lamm. As I became more serious about my future as an Orthodox Jew, in high school, I began to read his articles and books. I heard him speak when […]
He personified to me yiras Shamayim; nothing came between him and his relationship with the Almighty. His speeches were replete with wisdom and salient messages that resonated and reverberated for a long time after. And his vocabulary. Dr. Lamm was a wordsmith par excellence.
What could he and I ever possibly talk about?
When you are knee-deep in holiday cooking, taste often; lean into those meaningful dishes and the feel of replicating how they were made.
Ben Torah for Life is an essential resource for young men devoted to a Torah life and ready to engage with the world.
Soldiers began delivering groceries, loading prepared meals into ambulances, and bringing medicine and toys to quarantined homes. And the men dressed in black-and-white bonded with those in khaki green.
Before Hashem You Shall Be Purified: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on the Days of Awe Revised edition Edited by Arnold Lustiger Forthcoming from OU Press The following is an excerpt: Before Whom Are You Purified and Who Purifies You?” Rabbi Akiva said: Fortunate are you, O Israel! Before whom are you purified and who purifies […]
“We feel that education is the key to training the next generation of Jewish leadership.”
“I learned from the pushkes my grandparents kept on the television that it isn’t always how much we give that matters,” he recalls. “Sometimes, it’s just the giving itself.”