Zalman Kravitz

Passover, Deprogramming, and Real Freedom Our family always looked forward to celebrating Passover. At our Passover Seder [ceremonial meal], we retold the story of the Exodus, ate matzah to recall the bread of affliction, ate bitter herbs [maror] to remind us of the bitterness of slavery, and we proclaimed, “Next Year in Jerusalem” to celebrate our freedom. In the time of the Temple, Jews were also required to partake of the roasted paschal lamb. In fulfillment of Exodus 12:8, the sage, Hille

Why I Confronted the Priest About Marriage When I was young and attended high school, “Coffee Houses” were popular, but they were not cafes like Starbucks, and they weren’t that much about coffee. Instead, they were a safe place where young people could hang out, talk, and enjoy music. The first coffee house I attended met in the basement of a Catholic church in Connecticut. Although these were not religious events, I somehow ended up in a dialogue with a priest who attempted to convince me t

Shavuot Mystery Nourishes Our Soul This week Jews worldwide will commence the celebration of the holiday of Shavuot and increase their prayers for peace in Israel. Shavuot is one of three major Jewish festivals. It commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai more than 3,300 years ago. This event took place fifty days after Passover when the Jews were freed from Egyptian slavery. The word Shavuot means “weeks” and marks the completion of the seven weeks [the 49 days] between Passover an

Abraham’s Legacy Refutes the “Virgin Birth” Growing old has its pros and cons. As we age, we mature and gain wisdom. However, on the flip side, we are confronted with our mortality and the legacy we will leave behind. In this week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1–25:18), Sarah passes away, and an aged Abraham is near the end of his life. Faced with this reality, Abraham takes steps to ensure his legacy. He instructs Eliezer, the most faithful member of his household, to find an upst

Torah Insight in Painful and Horrific Times This week’s Insight was written while holding back tears. The pain is unbearable. The renowned biblical commentator Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki 1040-1105) sheds an important and relevant insight into the passage that states that God made man “unique among us, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:22). Rashi explains that the verse teaches that man alone can distinguish between good and evil, a quality animals and beasts do not have. When animals act vicious

A BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO A WORLD IN CRISIS The Chassidic masters understand the saying “live with the times” as an instruction to take a lesson from the weekly Torah reading and apply it to our lives. This Shabbat, we read in the portion of Noah that “the world became corrupt before God and the earth was full of Hamas [חמס–violence]” (Genesis 6:11). The abyss mankind had descended into was so evil God “regretting” having created man. Rather than eradicate the world, God chose to cover the world