Pain, Suffering & Tragedy

When G-d communicates with us from a place closer to His essence, we don’t understand Him clearly. Was that a hug? ’Cause it felt like a slap in the face . . .

Obviously, the Egyptians did some really bad things, and something had to be done to free the children of Israel. But couldn’t G-d have found a more humane way to deal with the situation?

A child knows intuitively that his mother loves him and wants only the best for him. Even if there seems to be a momentary lapse, he knows it will be short-lived

A courtroom. A judge reads off the charges. The defendant took his victim, drugged him, called in several of his assistants and methodically, with forethought cut the man's stomach open, removed organs, put in foreign substances...

So, we answer the soul’s call. We learn about our roots, about the heritage bequeathed to us by our ancestors, and we make the transition to the Jewish way of life. Yet something is amiss . . .

Can a person be as grateful for his troubles as he is for his joys?

Bad things happen. They happen to good people. Contrary to common perception, bad things also happen to bad people. The difference is not so much in what happens, but in what happens to the person

“All affairs of this world are severe, and evil and wicked men prevail.” No one who is even minimally acquainted with world history, and marginally aware of current events, is likely to take issue with this statement from Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi’s T...