This simple (but brilliant!) picture book by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen is incredibly rich and deep. I think it is one of the great children’s books that is a wonderful parable to illustrate an aspect of a fundamental Chassidic … Read the rest
Reb Mendel Futerfas was a legendary Chabad chassid who spent a decade in Soviet prisons and labor camp gulags. He tells a story about how the prisoners would sit around at night and share from their past lives, their areas … Read the rest
Many have asked about our response to the very disturbing anti-Israel words on the pristine snowy fountain this morning. Since early this morning we have been in touch with the University administration, University Police, and Jewish student leaders and other … Read the rest
Some of you might be familiar with the term “Yetzer Hora” or evil inclination. The Talmud describes the two voices inside our heads: Yetzer Tov and Yetzer Hora, the former tries to influence us towards good, the latter towards bad. In … Read the rest
This year (2019) for the Shabbat of Noach we did an animals theme, and asked several students to share their personal experiences caring for and working with animals. It was quite beautiful and surprising what students shared:
In our Sunday Talmud class we learned the story of Choni the Circle Maker (in tractate Taanit) and how he once encountered an older man planting a carob tree. That surprised him because carob trees (at least … Read the rest
Recently we’ve enjoyed reading some of Mo Willems’ “Piggie and Gerald” series of beginner books. Here’s another gem from that series that has far more depth and insight into human character than the silly children’s book it appears to be. … Read the rest
There’s an old classic tale from Jewish Poland in the 1600’s that we’ve shared before many times, but would like to share it again now that we have many parents in our Sukkah for Homecoming Weekend 2019.
A faculty member visited our Sukkah for lunch on the second day and shared a memory from Sukkot in Ireland during the year she was on a recent research sabbatical there. She and her family rented a place on the … Read the rest
Here’s a Chassidic story, we shared it once before, that also ties into an explanation of why there’s a (Chabad) preference (not an obligation) to shake the Lulav inside the Sukkah, even though they are two separate Sukkot Mitzvot, … Read the rest
This simple (but brilliant!) picture book by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen is incredibly rich and deep. I think it is one of the great children’s books that is a wonderful parable to illustrate an aspect of a fundamental Chassidic … Read the rest