WHEN G-D KNOCKS Parashat Hukat Opportunities knock gently on our doors. If we are not listening closely, we don’t take advantage of the opportunity, and it slips away. Temptations in life don’t knock. They lean on the doorbell and are hard to ignore. People who succeed in life are good at noticing the gentle knocking…

 G-D’S CALCULATOR Parashat Korah   Korah and his followers filed a complaint against Moshe and Aharon. “The whole nation is holy, and why should you be raised, self-importantly, from amongst G-d’s community?” Korah wanted to be just as holy as Moshe and Aharon. Despite Korah’s high position, Korah wanted the highest level of holiness; being…

THE GOOD WIFE Parashat Korah The beginning   of this week’s parasha lists the people that Korach convinced to join his battle against Moshe.  Datan, Aviram and On Ben Pelet. Our rabbis point out that On B.P. was not mentioned in the pesukim amongst those who were punished along with Korach. The Talmud in Sanhedrin tells…

THE CHILD I PRAYED FOR Parashat Shlach  Josh,  a yeshiva student I was coaching, whose parents gotten divorced, feared getting married and staying married. The high rate of divorce of children whose parents got divorced frightened him. Throughout the coaching process, he made a graph of percentages, to depict the chance he had for entering…

THE STICKIEST SUBJECT Parashat Shlach  Avoiding  gossip is the stickiest commandment to keep. The stickiest subjects of gossip are shidduchim, job and school interviews, and the like. In such cases, it is justified to relay negative information about a third party, to let them know what they are getting into. But not always. You cannot…