Rabbi Guzik - A Bisl Torah

For many, the winter season can feel difficult: longer nights, and colder weather. Loneliness may set in; a longing for another time beckons us closer. But Hannukah, the Festival of Lights, confronts the impulse to isolate and turn away. Hannukah...

Proverbs 20:27 teaches, “A candle of God is the soul of man, searching all his inmost parts.” The Sfat Emet explains that ner, the Hebrew word for candle, should be read as nefesh and ruach, soul and spirit. Our soul and spirit are infused...

Thanksgiving is very Jewish. A festive meal where we proclaim thanks for the blessings we have? That’s called Shabbat. Jews know Thanksgiving because it’s a holiday we essentially celebrate every week. The sage Ben Zoma would teach about the difference...

After struggling with her fertility, Biblical matriarch Rebekah learns that she is pregnant with twins. The pregnancy is difficult; the fetuses push up against each other, and Rebekah famously asks, “If so, why do I exist?” Rashi seems to think...

It is the season of giving thanks. It is the season of looking at our lives and counting our blessings. And in a world in which we are positioned to count the blessings of others, cultivating gratitude isn’t always the...

Resiliency is getting back up again after experiencing trauma or pain. Spiritual resilience is holding onto to one’s convictions and beliefs and even gaining new and deepened perspectives while facing challenges. Spiritual resilience doesn’t deny one’s hardship but rather, it...

It’s the season of recommendations: Students applying for high schools and colleges; college students already looking to the summer for internships. Clergy and school personnel are typing away, writing meaningful statements about ways their constituents make a difference.  As we...

I recently watched a reel of a mother experiencing heightened emotions after she left a grocery store. She said she ran into another mother with a toddler and couldn’t help but stare. Her own children were past the baby and...

What is the response when experiencing answered prayers? When our living hostages were released from Hamas’ tortures, it felt as if our prayers were answered. You will often see congregants come to the bimah for an aliyah to the Torah...

There is one piece of Jewish law regarding the sukkah that stands out to me. Once the weeklong Sukkot festival is over, how long do you have until you must take it down? The answer is both meaningful and practical—one...