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Parsha MISHPATIM

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Feb 14, 2018, 5:53 PM

Bribery Is Bad — For Your Brain

It seems obvious that taking a bribe is bad -- but why? After all, you may think that you can still be objective. What’s the harm in taking a ‘gift’? Unfortunately, we are faced repeatedly with allegations that our...

Michael Schlank

Feb 14, 2018, 6:08 AM

Jewish Leadership in the Age of Twitter

Without regard to party, it is fair to say that our national leadership leaves much to be desired—and that lack of leadership has plunged our nation into a moral and civic crisis. Both public and private standards of behavior...

William Hamilton

Feb 9, 2018, 9:25 PM

Eye for an eye, Heart for a heart

“If you only give once a month, please think of me next time.” This is how consultant Simon Sinek re-wrote the sign of a homeless person seeking assistance. Donations tripled. Why? According to Sinek, most in need focus on communicating their plight. But when...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Feb 9, 2018, 12:40 AM

The miracles cannot happen soon enough

In Parshat Mishpatim, we read about God’s promise to Moshe that B’nai Yisrael will be brought to the Land of Israel and that God will protect them there. In Shmot 23:26, we read: “No woman will suffer miscarriage or...

Feb 8, 2018, 4:00 PM

The power of empathy

Rabbis marching for immigrants’ rights outside the Trump Tower in New York, October 9, 2017. (Courtesy of T’ruah)

The Egypt experience taught Jews that the best response to having suffered is to help those who suffer (Mishpatim)

Feb 8, 2018, 3:56 PM

“Certainly” Parashat Mishpatim 5778

The Carliner Rebbe has some advice to give on how to get out of jury duty: “Tell the judge the truth. Tell him you’ll make a real good juror because you can spot guilty people just by looking at...

Feb 8, 2018, 2:44 PM

Transforming fate into destiny [Parshat Mishpatim]

At Sinai, the Jewish nation entered into its second covenant with God, a pact based not on the family-nation of the descendants of Abraham . An individual is not asked whether they wish to be born into a specific family...

Karen Miller Jackson

Feb 7, 2018, 11:26 PM

On Women’s Spirituality

Recent reports of rabbis in Israel denigrating women going to the army and women in general have been particularly upsetting. So I’d like to dedicate the following words of Torah to the brave, spiritual young women who devote time...

Feb 7, 2018, 11:18 PM

There Are No “Alternative Facts”

Such an odd sequence, to pledge to "do" before hearing what it is that you are to do! When a people makes such a pledge before a king or a tyrant, the only promise that will ensure is their...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

Feb 6, 2018, 10:58 AM

Mishpatim: Choosing Slavery

Slaves lose everything in their chains, even the desire of escaping from them. -- Jean Jacques Rousseau The Jewish nation has escaped from the slavery of Egypt, they crossed the Sea, received the Ten Commandments. Now, one of the first...

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