Prevention

The Midrash offers a parable in explaining the use of olive oil for the Menorah in the Temple: it is comparable to a king whose legions rebelled against him. However, one of his legions remained faithful and did not rebel. The king said, "From this legion that did not rebel, I will take for my ru...

The Greeks wanted to get rid of the Jews. They did not hate us, they just wanted to steal our spirituality, which would lead us to leave Hashem. ; It's an untold part of the Chanuka story that at the time when the Greeks began to attack Judaism, the Beis ;Hamikadash was being neglected. Jews took...

A great Rabbi, Hillel, taught that on the first night of Chanukah we light one candle and each successive night we add an additional candle until on the eighth night there are eight candles. ; Why did Hillel prescribe this method for commemorating the eight days of Chanukah? Wouldn't it have been...

One can help oneself by preparing for upcoming situations. I heard from Horav Simcha Schustal ZT"L at a siyum of a Yarchei Kallah in Lakewood the yesod of the Mesillas Yesharim of זהירות שלא בשעת מעשה: if you recognize what to do in certain situations, you can then program your mind so that when ...

From a news story: "One man's neighbors reported that he subsisted on cat food. During the winter, they collected money and bought him a warm coat. When he died, the kindly neighbors were astounded and outraged to learn that the miserly man had amassed $850,000 in bank accounts under some fo...

I daydreamed through sunset Dreaming of dawn When I came to my senses The Sun was long gone ; I understood then What my Mum used to say: When you live in tomorrow Then you miss today

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated the Torah as we treat our cell phone? What if we carried it around in our purse or pocket every day? What if we looked through it many times each day? What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it? What if we always checked it for messages? What i...

R' Avraham Alter ran a Yeshiva in Chicago for many years. He worked together with Baalei Teshuva. There was one fellow who was straddling the fence for a number of years. R' Avraham very much wanted this fellow to make a commitment. And he told the fellow, "You got to do something. You can't keep...

On November 26th, a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed bore the title ‘Behind the harassment scandals, another dirty little secret: pornography’. Here at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, we could not agree more. With each newly exposed scandal, it becomes more and more clear that the issue ...

Mesilas Yesharim ;says, "Kol inyanei haolam nisyanos heim l'adam ;-- ;All the matters in this world, everything, are tests for man." That's a sweeping statement! What does it mean ;tests? Hashem has to test you to know what you are? He doesn't know beforehand what you're going to do? What's the p...