Realistic Expectations

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

By having realistic expectations we will live a happier life. This week's Torah portion tells us about the different types of offerings (gifts) ...

Money Matters

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Money is a gift from God. Like any gift, we shouldn't waste it, but rather appreciate it and treat it with care. This week's Torah portion ...

The Power of Cooperation

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Goals that would be overwhelming or impossible to reach alone can become easier to reach when we cooperate. In this week's Torah portion, we learn ...

Sharing the Blame

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Title: Sharing the Blame It's good to stay out of trouble, but it's not enough. When we can, we should try to stop others from doing wrong as ...

Asking Advice

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

This week's Torah portion teaches us about an amazing artifact in the Holy Tabernacle that gave people true answers and valuable advice straight ...

Respecting Food

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Our food is not just something to eat - it is something to respect. In this week's Torah Portion we learn about the altar on which the Jewish ...

Helping Hands

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

What should we do when we see someone who needs our help, but we don't really feel like helping? According to this week's Torah portion (23:5), we ...

Embarrassing Others

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

In this week's Torah portion, we learn the famous Ten Commandments that God gave us on Mt. Sinai. One of these is not to murder. Thankfully, most ...

Acting Cruel

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

There's nothing good about being mean. In this week's portion we learn how the Amalekite nation attacked the Jewish people for no other reason ...

Finding Courage

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

It took a lot of courage for the Jewish slaves in Egypt to do things that publicly showed that the false gods of their Egyptian masters were ...

Being Stubborn

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Stubbornly refusing to listen to or learn from others can cause a person a lot of unnecessary frustration and pain. In this week's Torah portion ...

Tattletales

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Tattling or telling on others in order to get them in trouble is wrong. In this week's portion a pair of lowly men wrongfully told on Moses to ...

Keeping Promises

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

One sign of a good, honest person is that he keeps his promises. In this week's Torah portion, Joseph promises his elderly father, Jacob, that ...

Foresight

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Foresight is the ability to look ahead and make wise decisions that will affect your future. In the Torah portion for this week and last week, our ...

Teaching By Example

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Chanukah is known as the festival of light. On Chanukah a great miracle occurred. The menorah oil-lamp in our Holy Temple, which had only enough ...

Caring About Appearances

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

While it's fine to care about how we look, we shouldn't get carried away. In this week's Torah portion we learn how Joseph, who grew up to be one ...

Overly Curious

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Curiosity can be a very positive trait. However, being nosy, which is like being too curious about things that don't concern us, can cause ...

Family Ties

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Friends are great, but we should always remember that family is one of the most important parts of our lives. Our family is part of who we are. ...

Being Patient

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Some things just take time. In this week's Torah portion we learn how Rebecca wanted children, but she was barren and had to wait a long time ...

Being Yourself

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Each of us is unique, and each of us has a unique way we can be great. In this week's Torah portion we learn about the second of our forefathers, ...

Respecting Everyone

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

When we meet people who are different than us, we may feel that they are not as good as us. But this is not the Torah way. In this week's portion, ...

Standing Up For the Truth

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

This week's Torah portion teaches us about our forefather, Abraham. When Abraham was a child, nearly the entire world was worshipping idols. It ...

Don't Take Too Much

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Sometimes trying to take too much leaves us with nothing at all. In this week's portion - the first in the Torah - God gave Adam and Eve, the ...

Not Giving Up

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

When things go wrong it's tempting to throw up our hands and just give up - but almost always we'll be glad if we pick ourselves up and try again, ...

Family Parsha Ha'azinu 5768

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Yom Kippur is a day in which God gives us another chance. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, God decides how good of an upcoming year we ...

Sweet People

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year. One of the beautiful customs on this day is to eat a piece of apple dipped in honey and other special sweet ...

What Makes Us Special

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Sukkot is a fun holiday when we all 'camp out' for a week, leaving our homes and moving into small, beautifully-decorated outdoor sukkah. However, ...

Open Your Hand

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Charity - giving generously to help those in need - is one of the most important Torah values. In this week's Torah portion (26:12) we learn about ...

Be Kind To Animals

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

The Torah way is to be kind and compassionate to all living creatures. In this week's Torah portion (Deuteronomy, 22:10), we learn that a farmer ...

False Witness

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

A person should be sure he sees someone doing wrong before he points his finger. In this week's portion (19:16) we learn that God wants us to be ...

Passing Along Kindness

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

By lending our things to others in need, we pass along the kindness God has done for us. In this week's portion (15:8), God asks us not to be ...

True Confidence

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

True confidence is the courage that comes with knowing we are doing what is ethically right. In this week's portion (7:21), God tells the people ...

The Fifth Commandment

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

This week's Torah portion tells us the Ten Commandments. The fifth of those is to honor our parents (Deut. 5:16). Our parents are people to whom ...

Love Everybody

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

It's not enough not to hurt people - we should try our best to like them, too. This week includes a very sad annual day of mourning and fasting ...

A Truthful No

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Our word - and the promises we make - are not something to take lightly. In this week's portion (30:3) we learn about how important it is not to ...

Care To Be Right

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Being responsible and caring means not only caring about what will be best for ourselves, but also what will be best for the others. In this ...

The True Measure

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

It's nice to be smart and talented. But there is something which is far more important to be - good. In this week's Torah portion, we meet Balaam. ...

Nobody's Perfect

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Everyone - yes everyone - makes mistakes. In this week's Torah portion, Moses - the greatest, wisest human that ever lived - made a mistake and ...

Follow Your Own Mind

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Without even knowing it, we can be swept along by other people's opinions, and do, say, and think things we don't even believe. In this week's ...

Encouragement and Discouragement

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

We each have the power to give people the confidence to succeed - or take it away from them. In this week's portion (Numbers 13:31), the scouts ...

Stop Complaining

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Whether you call it whining, kvetching, fault-finding or complaining - when a person constantly finds things wrong with whatever situation he's ...

Chores and Responsibilities

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

For some, the very words 'chores' and 'responsibilities' send shivers down their spines. Yet these are among the most important tools to build us ...

Simply Helping Others

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Shavuot is the holiday we celebrate God's giving us the Torah. Interestingly, Mt. Sinai, the special mountain God chose to give us the Torah, ...

Taking Care of our Private Property

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

The Earth, its beauty and bounty, is one of God's most precious gifts to us. In this week's Torah portion, God asks us to let the land that we own ...

Treat Others RIght

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

We each have the power to choose whether to be 'hurters' or 'healers'. The choice comes down to whether we try to treat other people with respect, ...

How We Treat Others

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

In this week's Torah portion we find what our sages call the most important message of the entire Torah: "You shall love your fellow as ...

Ugly Speech

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

It may not seem like it, but gossiping and speaking badly about others is one of the ugliest things a person could do. In the times of the Bible ...

Gaining Self Respect

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Even though it might seem like fun, it's not right to do things purposely that are disgusting or gross. This week's Torah portion teaches us that ...

Choose Your Values

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Passover is the great festival of freedom when we remember and celebrate our people's miraculous freedom from the brutal slavery of Egypt. While ...

True Freedom

by Nesanel Yoel Safran

Passover is the great festival of freedom when we remember and celebrate our people's miraculous freedom from the brutal slavery of Egypt. While ...