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Gluckel of Hamelin: Writing as a Form of Prayer
If you were to step into your local Jewish bookstore on any given day, you’d be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of published memoirs on the shelves. But a few hundred years ago, that was unheard of. And a published memoir of a woman no less? A true rarity. Gluckel bat Leyb, born in Hamburg,…
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Beha’alotcha: It’s the Wonderful Manna
Amidst our journey through the desert, guided by the Heavenly pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, the nation is sustained by manna falling from the sky. Food descending from the clouds? It sounds like something surreal. But this was our reality, we lived directly under Hashem’s love and care, receiving…
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Putting Hashem Back at the Center
This Shavuot, as we commemorate the giving of the Torah, highlighted by B’nei Yisrael’s powerful response of “na’aseh v’nishma — we will do and we will listen” (Shemot 24:7), we are given a meaningful opportunity to reflect on our own service of Hashem: where it may be lacking, and how we can strengthen and renew…
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Matan Torah: A Feminine Event
The giving of the Torah at Har Sinai was the realization of a centuries-long dream. Generations before, Avraham Avinu was told that his descendents would be “strangers in a land not their own” but that Hashem would eventually redeem them, and they would leave their place of bondage with great wealth. This journey began with…
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Lessons in Kindness and Responsibility in Megillat Ruth
The Book of Ruth is customarily read on Shavuot. Some relate this custom to the fact that the story takes place during the harvest season, which the festival of Shavuot celebrates. Some connect it to the fact that just as Ruth accepted the Torah on Shavuot, so do we. Another opinion is that it is…
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Why Organ Donation Is So Close to My Heart
It was a regular, sunny Sunday in March. My mom, dad, sister, and brother were all lounging around the pool, enjoying the warm weather. Suddenly, my dad started making grunting noises, grabbed hold of his chest, and collapsed. My mom looked at his prone figure in horror and quickly called 911. The paramedics raced to…
