One of the hardest feelings for the human soul to grapple with is the feeling of being trapped. Trapped in a dead-end job, trapped in an unhealthy relationship, trapped by our own negative habits and inner demons. Even when facing a monumental hardship, if there is a sense of forward movement, of progress, the pain of the hardship is not as intense. But when a person feels trapped, with no clarity on how to proceed or any hope for things to change, the pain is infinitely worse.

On the “Shabbat of Vision,” says Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, of Berditchev, each and every one of us is granted a vision of the third and final Temple—a vision that, to paraphrase the Talmud, “though we do not ourselves see, our souls see.” This vision evokes a profound response in us, even if we are not consciously aware of the cause of our sudden inspiration.

How were the Nazis able to carry out the Holocaust - something extremely complex - without a computer?

Judging favorably is a mitzvah in the Torah, not simply a nice thing to do. In Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, we are taught: “Judge every person favorably.”

Not only does judging favorably change our outlook, but it can actually create change in the person who is demonstrating the negative behavior.

The knock on the front door brought my husband back to the present moment. The crazy look in his eyes faded. He released his hand from my throat and holstered the gun he had been pressing against my forehead.

He warned me that if I called the police, he’d make sure I didn't live to testify against him and abruptly left the bedroom of the house we shared together with our two young children. I fell to my knees, gasping for air.

Catherine Perez-Shakdam’s life reads like One Thousand and One Nights. Her biographical stories include a paternal grandfather incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp in Tunisia, a maternal grandfather who sought to escape Hitler by converting to Christianity and fighting in the French resistance, four years living as a Sunni Muslim wife in Yemen, escorting the future President of Iran on the campaign trail, and other tales more intricately woven than a deftly designed Persian carpet.

Moshe Vs. Yehoshua: Sometimes Your Unconscious Fears Undermine Success with Rabbi YY Jacobson

The same covenant that promises suffering, promises redemption.

An overview of the joyous day of the fifteenth of Av, its inner meaning and significance.

My father, Rabbi Dovid Ross, of blessed memory, passed away six months ago after a grueling battle with cancer. My children could not help but be affected by the illness and death of their beloved grandfather.