We are cleansed of our sins on Yom Kippur when we confess, when we apologize, and when we forgive ourselves. The process of teshuva – repentance – is when we repair our wrongdoings and ultimately return...

“A life lived without forgiveness is a prison,” said William Arthur Ward, an American motivational writer. That’s pretty deep – let’s lighten the mood a bit. I really dislike fruit. I mean...

The fifth perek, or chapter, of Parshat Ve’etchanan includes the repetition of the Ten Commandments, first revealed in Shemot in Parshat Yitro. In Ve'etchanan, the section starts off with a straightforward...

Many say that Moshe’s most transgressive sin took place in Parashat Chukat, when he famously struck a rock to bring forth water instead of speaking to it as God had commanded. According to many of the...

  A recent article in Vogue magazine entitled “It’s not modest dressing, it’s the Torah Teacher aesthetic” describes a current fashion phenomenon that may or may not have much to do with...

Shalhevet teachers of other faiths don’t feel that their religions are any barrier to feeling at home at Shalhevet. In fact, many think quite the opposite. Four teachers interviewed last semester...

For the Jewish world, the 20th century was incredibly dynamic and Jewish life changed fundamentally. Out of everything that happened, two events stand out in particular: the Holocaust and the founding...

Pesach is now behind us, and looking back on all the chaos of the climax of the Jewish calendar, something constantly crosses my mind. Why Pesach? Why is Passover the most decorated holiday of the year? It...

Dayenu – we say it at the end of the seder's Magid section and it means, "It would have been enough." But if you read the actual words of Dayenu, it is clear that it wouldn’t have been enough. In fact,...

I could never really get my hands around the reason we call this holiday “Purim,” or “lots.” Isn’t it the story about a sinister villain, a devoted supporter, a beautiful heroine, and a malleable...

Rabbi Abraham Lieberman, Shalhevet rabbi and teacher, says terminating a pregnancy violates Judaism’s prohibition against murder, lo tirzach.  “The fetus is a life – if you abort it, you kill...

Coming shortly after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Sukkot is a time that, if one is not careful, could seem simply like a fall break. Because Bnei Yisrael built huts in the desert after they were freed...