The great Chassidic leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, complaining about the Jews’ detachment from Judaism, once said that when a bridegroom stands under the chupa (bridal canopy) he can say hundreds of times to his future bride “You are betrothed,” but these words are meaningless until he adds one more Hebrew word, Li (to […]

A Parable (1) Preparing for Rosh Hashanah “I will incline my ear to the parable” [Tehillim 49:5]  Once upon a time, in a large, gloomy palace high on a mountain, where the night wind howled outside its massive walls, there lived a king – a real one. His beard was long like a silver waterfall, […]

In our days, the word tolerance has become highly popular, as are pluralism and democracy. These terms are so often used that one would hope most people have a proper understanding of their meanings. This is, however, far from true. In fact, it seems that the more these words appear in our papers, books and […]