Pesach is just around the corner and all of our thoughts turn to redemption—the ten plagues of deliverance, the exodus from Mitzraim, the splitting of the sea, the annihilation of our oppressors and enemies, arrival at Har Sinai, the unity of the nation encamped at the foot of the mountain, etc. We were in a…
In a recent article How Transparent is Your Aspaklaria? we explained how מידה כנגד מידה [middah k’neged middah] is a gift from the Holy One blessed be He. If we pay attention, especially to the ‘negative’ or unpleasant things that happen to us, we should be able to understand the deficiencies, shortcomings and weaknesses in…
Upon seeing a skull floating on the water, Hillel said (Pirkei Avot 2:7): עַל דַּאֲטֵפְתְּ אַטְפוּךְ וְסוֹף מְטִיפַיִךְ יְטוּפוּן (Because you drowned others, they drowned you, and eventually those that drowned you will be drowned). He was teaching with a real-life example what the prophet Yeshaya said many years earlier (Yeshaya 3:11): אוֹי לְרָשָׁע רָע…