Good Shabbos Email

 NOACH

 THROUGH HEAVEN DOWN TO EARTH

 Felix Baumgartner was not a very well-known name until this week. As of this past Sunday, however, this daredevil Austrian native did something no one had ever done in history: He jumped out of a space capsule that had taken him to the edge of the atmosphere. It was a free-fall for about four minutes, and he parachuted the rest of the way down.

While doing so, he set a world record as the first person ever to break the sound barrier while not in a vehicle. To this end, he was equipped with a specially-designed space suit, lest the friction of the speed and the thin atmosphere cause him fatal damage.

And so, this bold – and perhaps foolhardy – fellow, dropped out o… Read More »

BRAISHIS

LANDING INTO THE HOLY LAND.

It is one of the world’s most covered stories: Israel. It seems that Israel is in the news every day about something or other. Even internal issues, developments, or strife do not escape the pens of endless streams of writers. Each one tries to outdo the other, many spinning outrageous tales with unfair bias.

Does Israel have its issues and problems? Why, of course, as does every other country. The coverage, however, is widely disproportionate in the way the global coverage of Israel is disseminated.

One would think that this is a massive country with tens of millions of people – as are most countries in the world. Instead, Israel is one of the wor… Read More »

SIMCHAS TORAH

BONDING IN JOY FOREVER!

Simchas Torah is the happiest, most joyous festival on the Jewish calendar. It is so joyous that even its name contains the Hebrew word for joy – something that does not exist in any other festival, despite the fact that all festivals are a time for joy.

What fuels the joy of this festival? A number of factors: First and foremost, this is the day the Jewish world finishes its yearly reading and studying of the entire Torah, the five books of Moses. It is also the day the Jewish people begin the Torah anew, at the beginning of the book of Genesis. One never stands still when it comes to the Torah. It is also the final day of the joyous festival of Sukkos, and is the last of the … Read More »

MAKE ROOM FOR THE WET WILLOW!

The city of Atlanta underwent a massive downpour during the first day of the festival of Sukkos. Even the very outlying suburbs – in which the Lew family currently resides – were inundated by this uncharacteristic and uncommon deluge.

The festival of Sukkos requires its participants, first and foremost, to dwell in the Sukkah, or booth-like structures, partaking of all meals inside it. This structure must possess an open roof, covered by branches and bits of leaves. With all the non-stop rain, the interior of all Sukkos in the region resembled the inside of a car wash…

Needless to say, the grandiose plans we, and surely countless others, had for the first tw… Read More »