Category Archives: Jewish History/Culture

What do you want?

What do you want?
The Psalmist said, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Psalm 37:4    What does that mean? That if I love God enough He’ll give me anything I want? So then, what happens when I don’t get it? Must be something wrong with me, right? I didn’t do it…
Read more

Freely Thankful

Freely Thankful
The once in a lifetime union of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving gives us time to reflect on the similarities of these holidays. Where holidays can diminish when joined (think birthday on Christmas) they can also become more meaningful when the symbolism is connected. The Jewish tradition and Christian tradition this week actually are born out of…
Read more

God’s Luxury Hotel

God’s Luxury Hotel
I ran across this story on gratitude in several sources. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter was a 19th century Jewish scholar involved in translating the talmud. Once, when Rav Yisroel was in Paris he was in a very fancy hotel. He ordered only a cup of water. When it was time to go, the waiter brought the…
Read more

Obstacles in our Journey

Obstacles in our Journey
In the Bible, a river is often a barrier or obstacle. The Israelites faced two separate bodies of water. What did that represent? Yes, it was a physical barrier, but what did that mean for their spiritual journey? The Red Sea was a barrier from slavery to freedom. Egypt lay behind them, and in fact,…
Read more