Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz

When you live a life filled with meaning, spiritual fulfillment ... you receive a remarkable gift: a profound inner peace and emotional serenity that no material wealth can offer.

The many hardships endured by the Israelites during their desert journey could have been greatly reduced had the nation learned to appreciate what they had.

The only halachic ruling that was ever given is that “your life comes first” – and nothing beyond that.

'This world is not mine. It existed before me and will continue after me...I have entered, as a guest, into a perfect system run by God.'

Don’t aim for lofty, angelic separation “like Mine” but live a human holiness – the kind of life for which I created the world.

Just as a bad word can destroy, a good word can build – and that, after all, is the purpose of creation: “The world will be built with kindness.”

Our portion lists four animals that lack one of the two signs of purity. The midrash associates these four animals with the four exiles the Jewish people have experienced over the generations.

In the formative process of the exodus, the Jewish people leave a land that represents the height of pride, and they journey to a land of humility.

Why should one see themselves as if they personally left Egypt? Because it's the essence of redemption: giving everyone, no matter his situation, the inner strength of faith, hope, joy, serenity.

Someone who sins is meant to bring something of himself – his heart and emotions – and to experience a sense of closeness to God and love for Him through the offering.