Parshah Columnists

Guest Columnists
What the Athenian Sages Didn't Understand There will always be people in our lives who meander from the straight and narrow. How can we set them straight? By Aharon Loschak 3 Comments		Wedding Speeches for Ha’azinu By Moshe Bogomilsky
Why Sing Sad Songs? Why this song? Isn’t this the wrong message for the occasion? By Menachem Feldman 3 Comments		Finding Our Song Life, as we all know, is not a Disney movie, and home is not a Disney resort. With all of its suffering, stresses and tests, however, real life is still one colossal ride. By Hanna Perlberger 5 Comments
The Redeeming Power Of Holy Poetry The Torah-reading of Ha'azinu is referred to as a song: Moses spoke... the words of this song... (Deut. 31:30).		Do You Love to “Hate” Sukkot? We love to kvetch about the difficulty of planning outdoor meals when the heavens may gift us with rain or snow. By Menachem Posner 4 Comments
Speeches to Say at a Bar Mitzvah: Ha’azinu By Moshe Bogomilsky		Are We Destined to Stay the Same? Is there a way to imagine teshuvah as something empowering and encouraging, rather than a beat-down from G‑d? By Aharon Loschak 3 Comments
Could the People Have Stopped Moses' Passing? G‑d instructed Moses to ascend the mountain “in the middle of the day,” making it clear that they had no power over what would happen. By Yossi Ives 4 Comments		Our Eternal Covenant Life Lessons From the Parshah - Haazinu By Yehoshua B. Gordon 1 Comment
Torah Insights
Heaven & Earth The testimony of heaven and earth is more than merely a poetic metaphor. Moses was conveying the profound lesson that in order for the message to endure, the Jew must evoke both heaven and earth. By Menachem Feldman		Find Yourself Initially, the connection between G‑d and the Jewish people was a contractual one. But then the unexpected happened. By Menachem Feldman 1 Comment
Why Sing Sad Songs? Why this song? Isn’t this the wrong message for the occasion? By Menachem Feldman 3 Comments
Inner Stream
The Rainmaker Moses asked for spiritual "rain." G-d responded by offering "dew" By Lazer Gurkow 5 Comments
Weekly Torah
Approaching Others By Mordechai Wollenberg		Enduring Testament By Mordechai Wollenberg
For Friday Night
Spirit and Matter Now, what about us? Does the Torah reveal this aspect of Moses just to impress us with how holy he was, or is there a teaching which is also relevant for our lives? By Tali Loewenthal 2 Comments
Living through the Parshah
Hanging On by a Rope It is not by coincidence that the reading of Haazinu, the portion that is always read in proximity to the High Holy Days, explains our connection to G‑d as that of being bound by rope! By Rochel Holzkenner 2 Comments
What the Rebbe Taught Me
The Origins of Jewish Music “If Judaism will be celebrated rather than commemorated,” sang Moses, “and allowed to work its music over you and your families, you will not be able to help but dance to its tune.” By Mendel Kalmenson 8 Comments
What Do You Think?
Sing, My Children, Sing! Why is Moses singing on the last day of his life? By Levi Avtzon 4 Comments
Parshah Recovery
Straddling Heaven and Earth Our spiritual fitness, upon which our recovery depends, does not mean an escape from day-to-day living—but quite the opposite... By Rabbi Ben A. 1 Comment
Covenant & Conversation
Emotional Intelligence Emotions matter. They guide our choices. They move us to action. Intellect alone cannot do this By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks		The Spirituality of Song The last thing Moses did before giving the people his deathbed blessing was to teach them a song. By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Let My Teaching Fall Like Rain There is much we can do of our own accord: we can plow the earth and plant the seeds. But in the end, our success depends on something beyond our control. By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks 7 Comments		A Leader’s Call to Responsibility The first humans lost paradise when they sought to hide from responsibility. We will only ever regain it if we accept responsibility and become a nation of leaders, each respecting and making space for those not like us. By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks 1 Comment
Beyond Speech
How I Found Purpose With ALS I could have fallen prey to the "why me?" attitude, sunken into depression and been miserable. By Yitzi Hurwitz 24 Comments		New Year Requests By Yitzi Hurwitz
On the Haftarah: The Great Light Which Comes out of the Darkness For the Haftarah of Parshat Haazinu, From the Teachings of the Rebbe By overcoming the darkness, the light is greater than it would have been without the difficulty. By Yitzi Hurwitz 1 Comment
Life's Passages
The Inspiring Story of Rabbi Avner, the Sinner Ha'azinu One Yom Kippur, Avner sent guards to the synagogue, ordering the Ramban to appear before him. In his palace, before the eyes of his former teacher and master, Avner slaughtered a pig, roasted it and ate it on this holiest of fast days. By Chana Weisberg 17 Comments		The Ability to Find Yourself Ha'azinu The Jewish people’s faith in G‑d transcended structure, order, or limitations. By Chana Weisberg 4 Comments
Weekly Sermonette
Are You an All-Weather Jew? It is a shame that more of us don’t experience the full flavor of Jewish communal life. By Yossy Goldman 3 Comments