This Blog consists of Rabbi Eliezer Zalmanov's weekly column, as well as articles that appeared in various publications.
You are welcome to join in the conversation.
For additional articles by Rabbi Zalmanov click here

When we think about the Ten Plagues, it’s easy to file them away as ancient history; dramatic, supernatural events that happened to Pharaoh and the Egyptians thousands of years ago. Powerful stories, but far removed from modern life. Yet the Torah insists that these plagues were not only about Egypt. They were, in a very real way, about us. Most classic explanations say the plagues had two goals. One was to force Pharaoh to acknowledge G-d and let the Jewish people go free. T

There’s a strange scene at the beginning of the Jewish story of freedom. Moses is out in the middle of nowhere, tending sheep, when he notices a bush on fire. A thorny, scraggly bush in the desert. And the strangest part isn’t even the fire, it’s the fact that the bush doesn’t burn up. That’s where G-d speaks to Moses and gives him the mission that will change Jewish history. The rabbis ask the obvious question: Why there? Why not a beautiful tree, or a holy mountain, or a pl

There’s a line in the opening verse of this week’s Torah portion that most people skim right past. It says, “Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years.” A medieval commentator, the Baal HaTurim, drops a bombshell. He says that “those were the best years of Jacob’s life.” Egypt wasn’t exactly a spiritual retreat. It was corrupt, materialistic, and pretty hostile to Jewish values. The Torah itself calls it the moral low point of the world. So how does someone like Jacob, whose w

When Jacob finally reunites with Joseph in Egypt, he says something puzzling: “Now I can die, after seeing your face, for you are still alive.” At first glance, this makes little sense. Jacob already knew Joseph was alive. He had heard that Joseph was not only living, but thriving, second-in-command to Pharaoh, running the most powerful economy in the ancient world. What changed when Jacob saw him in person? The answer lies in a deeper definition of what it means to be “alive

On the first night of Chanukah this year, Jews in Sydney, Australia, were attacked for a simple act: being Jewish in public. There was nothing provocative about it, no slogans, no confrontation, just Jews fulfilling a mitzvah and bringing light into the world by lighting the menorah. And yet, for those who wish to see Jewish light dimmed or hidden, even that was too much. Moments like these force a question upon us: what is the proper Jewish response when others try to exting