_(english).jpg "The Gender of God")
_(english).jpg "Suffering and Consolation: A Father's Perspective")
_(english).gif "Centrality of Israel")
+.jpg "Priorities")
+.jpg "Vows")
+.jpg "Good For the Group")
About the Author
Rabbi Kalman Packouz
Rabbi Kalman Packouz is the author and publisher of Shabbat Shalom Internet Weekly. To subscribe, go to www.shabbatshalom.org and enter your email address. Click for Rabbi Packouz's complete bio.
.gif "Matot-Masay 5777")
Matot-Masay 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! The story is told of a man who came to his rabbi with a request. "Make me a Cohen!" The rabbi was puzzled because a person ...
Pinchas 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! I was brought up in Reform Judaism in Portland, Oregon. Though I saw very few Orthodox Jews, I grew up with certain perceptions and ...
Balak 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! The story is told of Napoleon walking through the streets of Paris one Tisha B'av (the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, a day of ...
Chukat 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Last week's story about testing the Almighty reminded me of the time I met with one of our supporters, a personal injury attorney, for ...
Korach 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! I received a fascinating and bewildering response from a Shabbat Shalom supporter when I asked for $1,800 -- he good-naturedly ...
Shlach 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! This week I share with you three fascinating stories... and one question. Several years ago I was in Prague eating at the King ...
Be'halot'cha 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! If you are Jewish, firstborn, male, whose parents are neither Cohanim or Levites and your mother didn't have a previous miscarriage ...
Naso 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! The story is told of a group of students working diligently on the trait of humility. A new student entered the study hall and saw the ...
Bamidbar 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Tuesday evemening, May 30th, begins the two day holiday of Shavuot (or Shavuos in the Ashkenazic pronunciation). (Yizkor is on ...
Behar-Bechukotai 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Who is the wise person? Our sage, Ben Zoma, tells us, "He who learns from all people" (Pirke Avos, Ethics of the Fathers ...
Emor 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! According to Jewish cosmology, the day begins with nightfall. That is why all holidays start at night after the stars can be seen. ...
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! What is courage? The year is 1929. It's Friday, August 23rd. The Grand Mufti is preaching to a packed crowd of worshippers on the ...
Tazria-Metzora 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! The Talmud (Arakin 15b) tells us that Loshon Hora (literally: "evil speech") kills three people -- the one who speaks it, ...
Shmini - 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! The story is told of a man who asked Rabbi Yisroel Salanter a question. "Rebbie, I have only 15 minutes a day to learn Torah. ...
Pesach 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Are you happy with who you are? Wish you could change, but don't know how? Wondering how does one make real changes? The formula is ...
Tzav 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! What if there was a total eclipse of the moon Monday at 3 a.m., but Wednesday at 10 a.m. was more convenient for you to view it? You'd ...
Vayikra 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Last time we explored the excuses for anti-Semitism; this week we'll look at the reason. Anti-Semitism is unique amongst the hatreds ...
Vayakhel-Pekudei 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! With so many anti-Semitic bomb threats, swastikas painted on buildings and keyed into car doors, it is no wonder that I was recently ...
Ki Tisa 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Our Sages instruct us to start preparing for a holiday 30 days in advance of the holiday. Pesach (Passover) begins Monday evening, ...
Tetzaveh 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Were you ever interested in Kabbalah, mysticism? If there is a God, people would love to have a spiritual connection, a feeling of awe ...
Trumah 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Purim is coming up next week -- Saturday night, March 11th, through all day Sunday. Purim is the holiday that reminds us that God runs ...
Mishpatim 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Ever wonder why you do not maintain a sense of happiness after finally obtaining a material goal? The late Mel Fisher, a Florida ...
Yitro 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! My friend, Sunny Goldstein, of blessed memory, told me the story of a young man he met who was wearing the head covering and clothing ...
Beshalach 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Did you know that trees not only have anniversaries, they have their own New Year? Friday night, February 10th begins Tu B'Shevat (the ...
Bo 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! One of the 6 Constant Mitzvot -- commandments that are incumbent upon us at all times -- is to fear God. I think most people find this ...
Va'eira 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! When my eldest son, Avraham, was 6 years old his friend desperately wanted him to come play at his house. "Come to my home. I'll ...
Shmot 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! An atheist was visiting Scotland. While boating on the famed Loch Ness he sees a giant slithering eel-like creature undulating through ...
Vayechi 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Recently a young lady lamented to me that she wished she could find a man of quality, of character. It is a great problem today in the ...
Vayigash 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! I once had the pleasure of attending a wedding in Jerusalem. It is the custom in Jerusalem for poor people to collect tzedakah ...
Mikeitz 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Rabbi Abraham Twerski points out in his Twerski on Chumash it is no coincidence that Chanukah occurs during the week when we read the ...
Vayeshev 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Hanukah is coming soon, Saturday night, December 24th. It's a wonderful family holiday. After we light the candles, we sing Maoz Tzur, ...
Vayishlach 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! The Shabbat Shalom is available both by email and by fax. One day I received a belligerent message on my voicemail: "Take me off ...
Vayetzei 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Until I was 22 years old and started to learn in a yeshiva, I always thought that there were only 10 Commandments. I was surprised to ...
Toldot 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! The Torah commands us, "Bind [these commandments] as a sign on your arm, and as totafot between your eyes" (Deut. 6:8). This ...
Chayei Sarah 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! With the American holiday of Thanksgiving coming up this week, I thought to share with you an email exchange with a synagogue ...
Vayeira 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Have you ever fantasized on being a hero by saving someone's life? Ever imagined running into a burning building to save a child or ...
Lech Lecha 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! It was an awesome lightning storm in South Florida -- God's fireworks! For some reason, the question popped into my mind "How ...
Noach 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! This week's Torah portion is about Noah who built a life raft for humanity and the world. My father recently told me an apocryphal ...
Bereishit 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Is this life all there is -- or is there something beyond our earthly existence? Does it make a difference what you do in this ...
Sukkot 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Sunday evening, October 16th, begins Sukkot (or Sukkos in the Ashkenazi pronunciation). Next week comes Shemini Atzeres (Sunday ...
Ha'azinu 5777
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Judaism has something for everyone. If you like to drink, we have Purim. If you like asceticism or self-denial we have Yom Kippur. If ...
Nitzavim 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Rosh Hashana begins Sunday evening, October 2nd! Many Jews all over the world are rushing to make sure that they have places reserved ...
Ki Tavo 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Do you know the two benefits for speaking to yourself? First, you get to speak to an intelligent person. Second, you get to listen to ...
Ki Tetzei 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! With Rosh HaShanah soon coming upon us, last week we began how to get your prayers answered from Rabbi Noah Weinberg in Wisdom for ...
Shoftim 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Rosh Hashana, is coming upon us in about a month (Oct. 2). With so many hours spent in synagogue praying, it makes sense to learn how ...
Re'eh 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Did you ever want to meet the President of the United States? Unless you are a foreign dignitary or a very generous contributor, the ...
Ekev 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! There is a commandment in the Torah to give reproof. Maimonides, one of the great codifiers of Jewish law, writes (Hilchos Dayos 6:7), ...
V'etchanan 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! Two weeks ago I shared the story of taking my son into a room to be spanked, deciding that he didn't need to be spanked because he ...
Devarim 5776
by Rabbi Kalman PackouzGOOD MORNING! What is the saddest day of your life? For most of us, it is the day when someone close to us passes away. For the Jewish people as a ...
