This Blog consists of Rabbi Eliezer Zalmanov's weekly column, as well as articles that appeared in various publications.
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This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shuvah, the “Shabbat of Return.” The name comes from the opening words of its haftarah, which calls on the Jewish people to return to G-d. The name makes sense. We are in the Ten Days of Repentance, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These days give us time to think about our lives and the changes we want to make. Imagine someone who has been away from home for a long time. When they finally walk through the front door, they feel the comfor

You arrive at services on Rosh Hashanah and settle into a familiar rhythm. The prayers begin, you recognize the melodies, and you know that at some point, the room will grow quiet and the shofar will sound. Except this year, it doesn’t. For many of us, the shofar is one of the few Jewish rituals we can picture even without knowing much about the details of Rosh Hashanah. Its sound belongs to the day. We may not think about the laws surrounding it, or the layers of meaning our

There are certain moments in life that make us stop and think. A birthday, a new job, the beginning of a school year, or simply realizing that another year has passed can give us a reason to take stock. We think about where we are, what matters to us, and what we want to do differently. That pause has value. It gives us a chance to step back from the routine and see our lives with a little more clarity. That’s part of what makes this time of year so meaningful. Rosh Hashanah

Judaism is often described through its rules. We talk about Shabbat, kosher food, prayer, charity, and Jewish practice. Yet another word belongs near the center of Jewish life: joy. The Torah takes this idea seriously. When describing blessings and curses, it gives a striking reason for the curses. The people failed to serve G-d “with joy and a good heart” despite having abundance. Jewish tradition takes this message further. Joy belongs within the act of serving G-d. It give

For many people in Northwest Indiana, this past week has been a pretty good lesson in frustration. The storms that tore through our area left hundreds of thousands of people without power. For many of us, the outage lasted more than a week. And many (including us, as I write this, and the Chabad House) still don’t have power going into a tenth day. No air conditioning, no internet, dead phones, spoiled food, and the uncertainty of not knowing when the lights would come back o

This week, Northwest Indiana experienced a storm unlike anything many of us have seen in years. Munster was among the hardest-hit areas, with hundreds of trees coming down across the community. Some were enormous trees that had stood for decades. Their fall damaged homes, fences, cars and property, blocked roads, and left almost everyone without power. When something like this happens, we are reminded how much we depend on one another. A storm can knock out the electricity in

Every time antisemitism makes headlines, the same questions come up. What should Jewish communities do? How can we be safer? What does the future hold? These are important questions. But they aren't the only ones worth asking. As the Jewish calendar moves into the month of Elul, the traditional season of reflection before the High Holidays, the weekly Torah portion presents a practical idea. It doesn't begin with lofty philosophy or dramatic calls for change. Instead, it spea

Most of us leave home the same way every day. We grab our keys, lock the door, and head into a world filled with errands and responsibilities. It's easy to slip into autopilot. Judaism places something at the very spot where that transition happens. The mezuzah isn't just a decorative Jewish symbol. It sits on the doorway because that's exactly where we need it most. Maimonides explains that every time a person enters or leaves the house, the mezuzah is meant to awaken someth

The weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av are filled with sadness as we remember the destruction of the Holy Temple and the long history of Jewish exile that followed. Then, almost immediately afterward, we begin reading words of comfort and hope. That timing raises an important question. If exile is so painful, why has so much of Jewish history, and so much of our Torah learning, taken place while we have been scattered across the world? The Talmud tells of a time when the Sages we

After forty years in the desert, just before the Jewish people enter the Land of Israel, they are given instructions to pass through the territory of Edom, the descendants of Esau, but with the warning not to provoke them. This raises an interesting question when viewed alongside an earlier passage. After the splitting of the Red Sea, the Torah describes the reactions of surrounding nations: “The leaders of Edom were shaken, the mighty men of Moab trembled.” Yet the Jewish pe

This week’s Torah portion discusses the laws of vows, a subject that raises an interesting question. If a person voluntarily gives up a certain pleasure in an effort to become a better person, shouldn't that be considered admirable? Surprisingly, the Sages viewed this idea with caution. They questioned why a person would choose to forbid something that the Torah itself permits. Their words reflect an important principle in Judaism, that the physical world is not something we

One of the hardest things for any of us to do is to recognize when we’re not being completely objective. We like to think that our opinions are based on facts and careful reasoning. But anyone who has ever made a major life decision knows how easy it is for our personal interests and past experiences to shape the way we see things, often without us even realizing it. This week’s Torah portion offers a classic example of intellectual honesty. The daughters of Tzelafchad approa

As the Jewish people prepared to enter the Land of Israel, Moses sent scouts to the city of Yaazer. Their assignment was to gather information and report back. Yet the Torah tells us that these scouts did more than observe. They actually captured the surrounding towns. Commentators explain that they said, “We will not do as the first scouts did.” They were referring to the famous spies who, forty years earlier, returned from the Land of Israel and discouraged the nation from

This week’s Torah portion tells the story of a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Their cousin Korach looked at the Jewish people and declared, “The entire congregation is holy.” If every Jew is holy, he asked, why should Moses and Aaron hold special positions of leadership? To make his point, Korach challenged Moses with a series of questions. If a garment is completely dyed blue, does it still need the blue thread of tzitzit? If a house is filled with holy books, does it st

Faith occupies a unique place in Judaism. We often speak about Torah study and mitzvah observance. Yet beneath this lies a deeper foundation: trust in G-d. Without it, even the greatest spiritual achievements lose their strength. With it, ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things. This idea emerges in this week’s Torah portion. After the sin of the spies, G-d tells Moses, “How long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed among them?”

Most of us think of joy as something that happens when life is going well. We enjoy good experiences and moments of celebration, and Judaism certainly encourages us to appreciate these blessings. Yet this week’s Torah portion invites us to look a little deeper and highlights the difference between pleasure and true joy. In discussing the holidays, the Torah repeatedly tells us to rejoice. At first glance, this seems straightforward. We gather with family and friends and celeb

This week’s Torah portion talks about the Levites carrying the Mishkan through the desert. At first glance, it feels pretty removed from modern life. Most of us are not thinking about desert travel or the family responsibilities of the tribe of Levi. But one of the beautiful things about Torah is that it is never only talking about the past. The stories happened thousands of years ago, yet somehow they continue speaking directly to the life we are living right now. We know th

Shavuot marks the day the Jewish people stood together at Mount Sinai and received the Torah. It is often described as the birth of Judaism or the moment a sacred teaching was given to a nation. Our sages point to something deeper. They speak about the difference between human wisdom and Torah, saying there is wisdom among all peoples, and it should be acknowledged, while Torah stands in a category of its own. Judaism has always valued human wisdom. Learning and asking questi

There’s something unusual about the way this week’s Torah portion, and the entire book of Numbers, begins. G-d tells Moses to count the Jewish people. On the surface, it sounds like a simple census. Every country counts its population once in a while. Governments want records and statistics. Usually, this kind of work is handed off to clerks and office workers. But that’s not how the Torah describes it. The census in the desert was carried out by Moses himself, together with

There’s a certain rhythm many of us live with today. Work, errands, bills, laundry, emails, carpools, shopping lists, and trying to answer texts we forgot about two days ago. We wake up already thinking about what we’re behind on, and by the end of the day we wonder where the hours went. Most people aren’t avoiding hard work. If anything, we’re overwhelmed by how much there is to do. Life moves fast, and it’s easy to slip into survival mode, just getting through the week. Thi