Do We Really Believe In God?

By Rabbi Yaacov Haber



Believing in G-d is tricky business. We are believers. We do Mitzvos, we say the Shema every day, we keep Shabbos carefully, phrases such as “G-d willing” and “G-d forbid” are a regular part of our vocabulary.



Noach was a believer. He spent one hundred and twenty years building a boat because G-d told him that there was going to be a flood. He planted and cultivated special cedar trees so that he would have timber… Continue

Thumbs Down

By Rabbi Yaacov Haber



In Talmudic times the Sukos dancing at the Simchas Beis Hashoeva was reserved for the leaders of the generation. This was a Simcha the likes of which no other simcha can be compared. Raban Shimon ben Gamliel would dance in the middle. The Talmud reports that he would stand on his thumbs for long periods of time with his feet in the air - and the crowd would cheer him on. “What a Rabbi!”



Interestingly this great simcha took place… Continue

Responsible Chinuch

By Rabbi Yaacov Haber



I remember as a child growing up in ‘anywhere USA’ meeting two shluchim of Torah U’mesorah. They had come to our town to talk to parents about sending their children to a Yeshivah. They were Yeshivah bochurim that had taken from their vacation time, packed their suitcases with cans of tuna fish and sardines and spent their nights on Greyhound busses to get from city to city. They had genuine warmth that was inspiring and their… Continue