The Jewish Ethicist: The Angry Manager

by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem, Rabbi Abba Wagensberg Gregory R. Smith and Stephen Colbert

Is anger an acceptable tool for a manager?

Growing Like a Tree

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! The Tiferet Shmuel (vol. 1) begs forgiveness for disagreeing with the Vilna Gaon, but points out that, ...

One Extra Day

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the Holy City of Jerusalem! Throughout the week of Sukkot we are instructed to offer a total of 70 bulls in the Temple, but on ...

The Active Attachment

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! The Torah says, "You shall make [literally, "make for yourself"] the holiday of Sukkot for seven days" ...

Guaranteeing a Good Year

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! The Shabbat between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is called is Shabbat Shuva (the Shabbat of Return). The ...

Eradicating the Bitter Root

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha is always read close to Rosh Hashana, which indicates it has a connection to this ...

The Snake Oven

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's parsha (Deut. 30:12), we are told that the Torah "is not found in Heaven" (Lo BaShamayim ...

An Out Loud Prayer

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha discusses the mitzvah of "first fruits." A Jew who owns land in Israel and grows ...

Lunar Modules

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! Parshat Ki Teitzei begins by describing a scenario in which the Jewish army is victorious in war and ...

Two Kinds of War

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's portion begins (Deut. 21:10) with a description of how we must treat prisoners of war. The ...

Reward of Long Life

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha discusses the mitzvah of Shiluach HaKen - sending away the mother bird. The Torah ...

Emotional Alignment

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! The beginning of Parshat Shoftim cautions the judges of the Jewish people, "Do not take a bribe ...

The Mind's Eye

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In the opening verse of this week's parsha, Moses speaks to the Jewish people and says, "See (re'eh), I ...

Spiritual Nourishment

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha contains the verse, "...Not by bread alone does man live; rather, on all that comes ...

The Essential Command

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! One of the highlights of Parshat Va'etchanan is the repetition of the Ten Commandments. In vivid detail, ...

The Iron Furnace

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha is always read on the Shabbat following Tisha B'Av. This Shabbat is known as "Shabbat ...

When Victory Is Assured

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week we begin Deuteronomy, the last Book of the Torah, consisting of Moses's final words to the ...

Focus in the Exile

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha, Masei, describes the journeys of the Jewish people during their 40 years in the ...

Jewish Soldiers

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This parsha tells of the war waged by the Jews against the nation of Midian, in retaliation for the ...

Cultivating New Leaders

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha contains the explosive story of Pinchas (Moses's great-nephew), who sees an act of ...

A Different Destructive Approach

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! Parshat Balak tells the story of a Moabite king named Balak who is terrified by the Jewish people's ...

Global Influence

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha describes how the Moabite king named Balak wanted to annihilate the Jewish people. ...

Fifteen Quick Mistakes

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! One of the primary topics discussed in this week's parsha is an unfortunate incident that begins with a ...

Passing the Test

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! Among the many topics discussed in Parshat Chukat, we find the story of the Jewish people's complaints ...

Clinging to the Light

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha tells the story of a man named Korach who led a mutinous rebellion against Moses and ...

Motivation of the Spies

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's parsha, God tells Moses, "Send forth men to spy out the land of Canaan that I am giving ...

The Good of the Land

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha deals with the story of the spies who scouted out the Land of Israel and returned ...

Of Ants and Grasshoppers

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's portion, Moses sends spies to scout the Land of Israel, and they return with a negative ...

Life's Second Chance

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha discusses the topic of Pesach Sheini, the Second Passover offering. Certain members ...

Eliminating the Spiritual Waste

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the Holy City of Jerusalem! As we near the end of the Ten Days of Repentance, culminating with Yom Kippur, we review our behavior of ...

The Tishrei Unit

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the Holy City of Jerusalem! The month of Tishrei incorporates the three major holidays of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. These ...

The Essential Bones of Joseph

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week, as there is no regular Torah reading, we will discuss the seventh day of Passover, known in ...

Why Is This Exile Different?

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

One of the most famous elements of the Passover Seder is the "Ma Nishtana" paragraph, more commonly known as "The Four Questions." After asking, ...

Hungering for Meat

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's parsha, we find one of the most perplexing passages in the Torah. The Jewish people in ...

The Triple Pattern

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! One of the highlights of Parshat Naso is the Priestly Blessing. The text of this blessing, which the ...

The Torah's Three Elements

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha is always read before Shavuot, the festival of receiving the Torah. What is the ...

Of Love and Pain

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! Parshat Bechukotai contains a series of blessings and curses. Surprisingly, only 11 verses are dedicated ...

The Joy of Opportunity

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's parsha, we find the following verse: "If your brother becomes poor and his hand fails ...

The Omer and Peak Potential

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's Torah portion discusses the mitzvah of the Omer, which involves counting seven weeks from ...

The Great Rule of Torah

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's Torah portion, we find the famous imperative, "Love your fellow as yourself, I am God" ...

The Holy Separation

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's parsha (Leviticus 18:3), God charges the Jewish people not to behave like the Egyptians, ...

The Twofold Shabbat

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's Torah portion primarily deals with the phenomenon of a "negah" - a physical skin disease ...

Seven Fatal Mistakes

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's Torah portion contains the dramatic story of Nadav and Avihu, two of Aaron's sons, who bring ...

To Hear God's Call

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's Torah portion begins with God speaking to Moses (Leviticus 1:1). Rashi points out that God ...

The Struggle to Build

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's Torah portion concludes the Book of Exodus by describing the construction of the Tabernacle, ...

The Wise Approach

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's parsha, Moses tells the Jewish people that God has appointed Betzalel as chief craftsman ...

The Cleansing Water

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's parsha discusses the copper basin that the Kohanim used to wash their hands and feet before ...

Taking the Blame

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! This week's Torah portion describes the infamous Golden Calf. When Moses prays to God to forgive the ...

Symbolic Clothes

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! In this week's portion, we find a detailed description of the eight garments worn by the High Priest: ...

Total Integration

by Rabbi Abba Wagensberg

Greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem! The second verse of this week's parsha is: "Take for Me a donation [to build the Sanctuary]." (Exodus ...