The verses in this weeks Torah portion Bereishit 32:7-8state: "The angels returned to Jacob saying, 'We came to yourbrother, to Esau, and he is also coming toward you, and fourhundred men are with him.' Jacob became very frightened and wasdistressed, so he divided the people who wer

According to the Gemarah in Shabbos 21:a (Rashi) the celebrationof Chanukah was decreed because the oil, which was supposed tolast one day, lasted for eight days. But at the same time theJews were saved from the total destruction of their spiritualvalues and the loss of their Torah in a very mira

Now Moses' father in law, Yisro, the chieftain of Midian, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, His people - that the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt. (Shemos 18:1)

What news did Yisro hear that made such an impression on him, that he came to join the Jewish people? Th

R' Feldman brings this claim as one of his proofs that Chazal's science is Torah M'Sinai.

How else could we explain numerous examples where the Sages had scientific information which no scientist of their time had? How were they so precise in their calculations of the New Moon? How did th

For as long as deep in the innermost heart
A Jewish soul stirs
It is towards the East and to Zion that the eye longingly looks.
We have not yet lost our hope
The hope of two thousand years
To be a free nation in our land
In the Land of Zion and Jerusalem.

Th

A few years ago, I unintentionally upset someone. It was at a bar mitzva where I had been invited to "address" the young man. As part of my sermon, I had said that you don't have to take the traditional Jewish date of the creation of the world as being literally 5763 (or whatever it was

Well, like all things in Judaism, I can't answer that in one sentence. With Hashem's help, I will tell you some of the most basic beliefs of Judaism, which you can use as a starting point. (And please see my FAQ pages as well).

Judaism believes that the Creator is the Only Creator, and th

Unlike some other religions, Judaism is not learned in one day. There was a man who wanted to learn all of Judaism in one minute. He went to Hillel the Elder (circa 100 B.C.E.) and asked to be taught all the Torah in the short time that he could stand on one leg. Hillel the Elder told him, in wha

The connection between Judaism and Israel has long, deep, historic roots. The holy Torah clearly shows, that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, and that the great fathers of the Jewish nation - Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov - lived in "Kenaan" land (which is Israel of nowada