Category: May 2016

  By Aron Ziegler Aron Ziegler has learned for over 15 years at the Yeshivah Gedolah of Johannesburg, including five years full-time. He was among the first students of Hirsch Lyons School. For the past 10 years he has been the spiritual leader of the Kensington Hebrew Congregation. He also leads a learning group weekday mornings at Cyrildene Shul. He strives, in the words of his beloved Rosh Yeshivah’s rebbe, to be a ‘Torah Jew’.   Yisro was an advisor to Pharaoh, but had to flee Egypt after voicing his…

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The unwavering support of a father By Ilan Preskovsky It’s not just any artist who can boast to having their work featured in the illustrious Guggenheim Museum in New York City, displayed in dozens of exhibitions throughout the world, and sought after by major art collectors, but it’s even rarer still when that artist is the daughter of a highly respected, very much Orthodox rabbi. With all this in mind, you would be correct in assuming that Naama Nothmann has had more than her share of defining moments. Narrowing it…

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  By: Robert Sussman Beyond the obvious physical liberation from the bondage of slavery, the primary purpose of our being redeemed from Egypt was to receive and fulfil the Torah, the very essence and definition of the Jewish people. Each year, we busy ourselves with the mitzvah of counting the 49 days between the anniversary of our going out from Egypt, which took place on Pesach, and the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, which took place on Shavuos, building a bridge connecting these two events. By counting these…

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Too much of a good thing By Richard Sutton One of the most prolific and prominent Torah scholars, Maimonides, once said, “As long as a person exercises and exerts himself, sickness does not befall him and his strength increases. But one who is idle and does not exercise, even if he eats healthy foods and maintains healthy habits, all his days will be of ailment and his strength will diminish.” More than 800 years later, science is echoing these insightful words. In 2012, the Journal of Aging Research published an…

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Inspiration From My Garden And My Bobba’s Recipe Book By: Lauren Boolkin Almost every aspect of Jewish observance is inseparable from the world outdoors. The festival of Shavuot illustrates this relationship. On the one hand, Shavuot celebrates the first fruits of the harvest, while on the other hand it celebrates the giving of the Torah. This reminds us that agriculture and Torah are thoroughly entwined, enough that they share a festival. For me, the Jewish mother that I am, my biggest joy is to feed people. This is closely followed…

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By Chandrea Serebro I’ll never forget the day I received a phone call from Joe. “Howzit? It’s Joe here. How are you?” Quickly racking my brain to figure out which Joe it was, I chatted normally and as laissez faire as I would with any of my pals, until he asked me if I would like to come to the Shabbaton he was organising the next Shabbos. It turned out, it was Rabbi Joe. I was embarrassed that I had addressed him so casually. We laugh about it today, but…

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By: Sara Gila Margulies Words have power. In every utterance, there is real opportunity to build up another person and affect him positively forever. Wishing a simple ‘good morning’ to a neighbour, giving a sincere compliment to a friend, or asking about a co-worker’s wellbeing with genuine interest can impact the recipient in ways that we could never imagine. The person will feel cared for, respected, and valued. And this, in turn, can bring joy to his day and give him a feeling of self-worth that can be cherished for…

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