by Rabbi Shaps | Aug 3, 2023 | Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Weekly Parsha
We are all familiar with the old adage. If you want to get to the next level, you have to work hard for it and even experience a little pain in order to make progress. Moshe tells the people that “Hashem fed you Manna in the desert in order to afflict you and to test...
by Danielle Altonaga | Jul 21, 2023 | Danielle Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
“I just love being criticized”. Not a phrase you hear often… Yet, of course, we do need to hear criticism sometimes, in order to move forward and grow. In this week’s Parsha, Moshe reviews the Torah with the Jewish people, and reprimands them for their...
by Rabbi Altonaga | Jul 14, 2023 | Mattos, Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
You told him you’d go volunteer at the food bank together today, but you just don’t feel like going out anymore. Does it really matter if you just don’t show up? Just because you said it, doesn’t mean you have a real obligation to do it, right? Words are...
by Rabbi Shaps | Jul 6, 2023 | Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Weekly Parsha
Have you ever wanted something very badly? I mean something good of course. You really want it but are not sure if you are entitled to it or how to go about acquiring it. You research and investigate and eventually find the information you need. Armed with the proper...
by Rabbi Altonaga | Jun 23, 2023 | Korach, Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
In this week’s Torah portion, Korach leads a rebellion. Although, in truth, Korach’s goal is power and prestige, he veils it within philosophical arguments and appeals to justice. He creates an argument that echoes throughout the camp and brings many...
by Rabbi Altonaga | Jun 16, 2023 | Danielle Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
I started keeping kosher over a decade ago. I remember the strange sensation of feeling both proud and self-conscious at the same time… I knew I was making the right decision, yet I felt awkward about explaining to friends that I needed kosher food, or that certain...
by Rabbi Shaps | Jun 8, 2023 | Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Weekly Parsha
Everyone is an expert. Especially in today’s world with Google available to tell us anything we need to know. I always found it fascinating how parents are experts on teaching even though they never took a course in teaching. In a similar way, we are all medical...
by Rabbi Altonaga | May 24, 2023 | Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Shavuos
Shavuos. The most important holiday that nobody has ever heard of. Shavuos has a bit of middle child syndrome going on. It’s between the much longer holidays of Passover and Succos, and it certainly gets less fanfare than Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. There...
by Danielle Altonaga | May 19, 2023 | Danielle Altonaga, Jerusalem
Today is Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day. It commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem under Jewish sovereignty in 1967. I love Jerusalem. I was blessed to live there for nearly three years. Have you ever wondered why Jerusalem is so important to us? King...
by Rabbi Shaps | May 12, 2023 | Behar Bechukosai
If you have been to Israel lately you know that it is full of hustle and bustle and the landscape is beautiful with trees and many fields full of all types of crops. Yet, it was not always that way. In 1867, Mark Twain took a trip to the Holy Land. He later reported...
