David Helfand is a fourth year rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies where he is also pursuing a masters degree in Jewish Education. David serves as the rabbinic intern at ...

The year I turned 7, I read my first “chapter book,” Beverly Cleary’s “The Mouse and the Motorcycle.” I couldn’t have been prouder of the big sticker I got on my library card. At the time, the source ...

At the start of my Torah portion, the Israelites have just been saved by G-d through the splitting of the Red Sea. Only a ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

The thirteen attributes which are used to describe God, parallel attributes of God found previously in the Torah. The difference between these two descriptions of God is clear. At Sinai, God reveals ...

Is it appropriate to challenge God when things go wrong? The role of the prophet is usually associated with transmitting the word of God to His people. Yet there are times when the prophet takes on ...

Fresh off of the joy of Purim, the Torah is now turned to one of the most tragic of all Parshiyot, Parshat Ki Tisa, which contains the sin that would hamper the Jews for generations-the making and ...

For me, the beauty of Jewish scholarly tradition is its emphasis on constantly examining and re-examining our texts and commentaries to be sure that we haven’t “missed something.” Of the Torah, we are ...

On the face of it, prayer does not make much sense: We are asking the perfect God to change His course of action. It is one thing if we make some sort of vow and promise something that will change the ...