faith
The Dilemma of Faith
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz When I sit down at my Shabbat dinner table and I am blessed to have my four children around me, something strange happens. I look at them but I don’t see them. I look at my 20-year-old daughter and see one...
The Story of Faith: Shaken, Renewed and Transformed
By Rabbi Avraham Norin David does not give any indication as to when he composed Psalm 31. Nonetheless, it seems clear that he wrote it while running from an enemy. The commentators assume that it was written as David was fleeing from...
What the Eagles of Manwë can Teach You About Trust in God
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz My ten-year-old son grew up on the Tolkien trilogy. So I guess I should not have been surprised when we got a flat tire and, as we stood by the side of the road, my son looked up to the sky and asked, “Where are...
Respond to Suffering Like King David
By Rabbi Avi Baumol Throughout our lives, either for reasons we create, or for reasons unbeknownst to us, we experience tragedies, feel pain and suffer. Why?  This Jobian question disturbs us throughout our period of distress, and...
Noah’s Lesson of Faith
By Rafi Weinstein The story of Noah and the ark is a well-known and beloved Bible story. But one verse stands out as puzzling. After Noah builds the ark as God had commanded him, God instructs him to enter the ark with his family. When...
Sukkah of Faith
By Chaim Barzel The Biblical commandment to build and sit in a sukkah (temporary dwelling) during the festival of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) is very beloved by the People of Israel. I recently read a story about a Jewish family in...
King David’s Lesson in Faith
By Chaim Barzel The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth, told the following story: “It happened in one synagogue in London that the chazzan (cantor) on Shemini Atzeret (Eight Day of Assembly)...