About the Author

Rabbi Yehuda Appel

Born in New York City, Yehuda Appel was director for many years of Aish HaTorah’s Discovery Program in Jerusalem before founding Aish Cleveland in 1990. In addition to his teaching and administrative responsibilities in Cleveland, his recent focus has been establishing Aish programs on college campuses throughout the Midwest. Yehuda is married to noted speaker Hannah Appel and they have eight children.

How Baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Murray Kept One Man Alive

How Baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Murray Kept One Man Alive

by

Nothing was going to keep Richard Wade from seeing Murray join the 3000 hit club. Not even cancer.

The Wandering Jew

The Wandering Jew

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Traveling through the journey of life.

The Arrival of Rosh Hashana

The Arrival of Rosh Hashana

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Meeting the King.

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams

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Understanding Joseph’s sudden rise to power.

Adam and Eve Eat the Apple

Adam and Eve Eat the Apple

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The story of Adam and Eve's eating of the forbidden fruit, a major topic in this week's Torah...

Centrality of Shabbat

Centrality of Shabbat

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Several years ago, a distinguished theologian was honored by a prominent organization for his...

Serious Soul Searching

Serious Soul Searching

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Some years ago, while I was visiting my rabbi at his home in Jerusalem, a group of elder scholars...

Sorting through Mitzvot

Sorting through Mitzvot

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As a seminary student in Israel, my wife and her friends had to cook their own meals. One evening,...

Tell Your Children

Tell Your Children

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Every Passover, in keeping with the theme of Divine intervention and redemption, my family has a...

Jewish Education

Jewish Education

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Judaism has always understood that a people's future is only as great as the values it manages to...

Asking Forgiveness

Asking Forgiveness

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Some years ago, an organization asked me to collect stories for a book they hoped to publish....

Spiritual Passion

Spiritual Passion

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Do we run to Torah the way we run for pizza?

Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment

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Rabbi Paul Seiger, former chaplain at a Missouri prison, tells the tragic but true story of a...

King of Israel

King of Israel

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Ronald Reagan once made an interesting observation about the Soviet constitution. He said that...

Logic Versus Faith

Logic Versus Faith

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Many people are curious as to how Jewish tradition foresees "the end of days" -- the coming of the...

The Mezuzah

The Mezuzah

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Some years ago, when my wife and I were living in Israel, we bought our apartment from a fellow...

Ban on Idolatry

Ban on Idolatry

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At the end of World War Two, Winston Churchill was asked if he was concerned about how historians...

Fulfill Your Potential

Fulfill Your Potential

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In a popular film some years ago, the main character dies and goes to the "next dimension" where...

The Wandering Jew

The Wandering Jew

by

Any botanist will tell you that the "Wandering Jew" is a unique species of plant which - when...

Dying a Good Death

Dying a Good Death

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Faced with the news of his imminent demise, Moses picks his successor.

Human Dignity

Human Dignity

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A recent study was undertaken to see how parents interact with their children. The study found...

To Give or Not to Give?

To Give or Not to Give?

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One of the most difficult dilemmas human beings face is weighing our own needs against the needs...

For the Sake of Peace

For the Sake of Peace

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Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer was a great sage in Jerusalem 100 years ago. Once, during one of Rabbi...

Hope For the Future

Hope For the Future

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In the years prior to World War Two, it was known that two Chassidic sects – the Belzer and...

Jacob's Elderly Appearance

Jacob's Elderly Appearance

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Jacob's life was shortened as a result of his complaint.

Joining up with the Jewish people

Joining up with the Jewish people

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A few years ago, Vitaly, a Russian Jew living in Minsk, faced the difficult decision of whether or...

Kohanim Priests

Kohanim Priests

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A prominent member of a congregation came to his rabbi and said, "I would like to become a Kohen."...

Unified Nation

Unified Nation

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The Talmud reports that the generation of Yehuda Bar Illai represented Torah study at its best....

Repairing the World

Repairing the World

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Judaism recognizes that everyone has a particular role to fulfill in this world. The mystical...

Sabbatical and trust in God

Sabbatical and trust in God

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The story is told of a European Jew at the turn of the century who, tired of the constant grind of...

Counting the Omer

Counting the Omer

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A famous parable describes how a poor man, desperate to find the means to support his family, sets...

Retirement

Retirement

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Judaism places enormous respect on the elderly.

All About the Mikveh

All About the Mikveh

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A few years ago, my wife was teaching about Taharat Hamishpacha, the laws of family purity, at the...

Kosher Ideas

Kosher Ideas

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Many people find dieting to be quite a challenge. Indeed, Jewish tradition found the entire...

Saving Others Embarrassment

Saving Others Embarrassment

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The Torah emphasizes the importance of never causing another person the pain of embarrassment.

Humility of Moses

Humility of Moses

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A wonderful passage in the Talmud describes the greatness of Sages of previous generations. In...

Proper Hygiene

Proper Hygiene

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During the Middle Ages, it was not uncommon for Jews to be accused of poisoning wells and...

Beauty and the Kohanim

Beauty and the Kohanim

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The Talmud tells the following story: The great sage Rabbi Yehoshua was the epitome of wisdom and...

God Dwelling on Earth Below

God Dwelling on Earth Below

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Some years ago, while teaching Jewish Ethics at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, I gave my students...

All About Dogs

All About Dogs

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The role of dogs in Jewish lore.

Why is Adultery So Bad?

Why is Adultery So Bad?

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Some years ago a rabbinic colleague of mine in Chicago was giving a class on the Ten Commandments...

Balance in the Metaphysical Realm

Balance in the Metaphysical Realm

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In a fascinating essay, the Maharal (16th century Prague) discusses the importance of maintaining...

Taking Gold and Silver from Egyptians

Taking Gold and Silver from Egyptians

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In the aftermath of World War II, Germany offered to pay reparations to victims of the Nazi regime...

Miracles and Magic

Miracles and Magic

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Over the centuries, many religious adherents have tried to prove that they possess the "true"...

Moses at the Burning Bush

Moses at the Burning Bush

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In her novel, "Briefing for a Descent into Hell," Dorris Lessing makes the point that perception...

Respect for the dead

Respect for the dead

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It has been said that one can measure how civilized a culture is by the way its dead are treated....

Showing Favoritism to Children

Showing Favoritism to Children

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Why there is no place for showing favoritism to one child.

Jacob returns to his roots

Jacob returns to his roots

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Some years ago, an elderly woman I know traveled with friends in a car across America. For this...

Employer-Employee Relations

Employer-Employee Relations

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Some years ago, while living in Jerusalem, I had a friend who worked as an official in the...

What Makes a Criminal?

What Makes a Criminal?

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I recently read a report which focused on the nature of evil. The report stated that, for the most...

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