Judaism

Torah

Why Did the People Complain Over Manna?

Newsmakers

West Philly Rabbi Gives Benediction at Prayer Breakfast

Local

Does Birthright Stifle Teen Travel?

Torah

Good Intentions, Poor Delivery

MATTOT-MASE'EI, Numbers 30:2-36:13

By:

Rabbi Danielle Stillman

We live our lives with the best intentions. We do what we believe is right, and when we don't live up to our intentions, we try again. As human beings we strive to make a better world, individually and collectively, but as human beings, we inevitably fall short. How often do we promise ourselves that we will eat better, exercise...

Torah

Zealotry Diminishes Goodness Within Us All

PINCHAS, Numbers 25:10-30:1

By:

Rabbi Howard A. Addison

Parshah Pinchas provides a rich pastiche of narrative and ritual law. It describes how Aaron's grandson, Pinchas, saved the Israelites from moral degradation by killing a prince from the tribe of Shimon who, together with a Midianite princess, brazenly led the people towards wholesale decadence. We learn of a new census of the Israelites, now standing on the eastern bank...

Synagogue Life

Rabbi Honored for Six Decades of Leadership

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

When Rabbi Julius Meles moved to Northeast Philadelphia to help launch Young Israel of Oxford Circle in 1954, the brand-new congregation couldn't afford to pay his salary. So, Meles decided, for practical reasons, to go into the glass business with his brother, installing windows and following in the footsteps of their father, who did similar work in Pruzsana, Poland. But...

Torah

Underground Perhaps, but in Touch With God

KORAH, Numbers 16:1-18:32

By:

Rabbi Danielle Stillman

As oil continues to pour up into the Gulf of Mexico from a well dug deep beneath the ocean, we come to this week's portion, Korah, in which a group of rebels are swallowed alive into the depths of the earth. The image of these rebels going down into a chasm created by God sits side by side with the...

Torah

Divine Commands: They Reflect a Higher Will

CHUKAS, Numbers 19:1-22:1

By:

Rabbi Joshua Runyan

It's a scene played out in countless homes around the world: Mommy or Daddy want Junior to pick up his toys, so they plead, cajole, maybe even bribe him. Finally, they demand it. Then comes the inevitable question -- "Why?" -- and its catch-all answer: "Because I told you so." To a child, that singular explanation is never enough. And...