One of my favorite movies is the ageless “Wizard of Oz.” The catchy tunes, endearing characters, the ever-present battle between good and evil and a journey of self discovery have all the ingredients needed for a timeless classic.
The plot revolves around Dorothy and her friends getting to the powerful Wizard of Oz who they believe [...]

CLICK HERE to check out “The 30 Year Itch” (Jacob’s Ladder) and “Why Jews Make Good Accountants” (Weekly Torah-tainment) on iTunes!
Plus, check out the video recording of Monday night’s Jacob’s Ladder class “The 30 Year Itch”:

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“I can’t fall asleep!” my son said recently with growing agitation.  “I’ve been trying for 30 minutes!”
I looked around at his sleeping siblings and considered his plight.
“I’m going to be tired tomorrow and I won’t be able to concentrate,” he moaned.
“Avraham, just lie down and don’t worry about falling asleep,” my wife offered.  “Your body rests when [...]

Join Rabbi Adam Jacobs online tonight with Jacob’s Ladder: “The End of the Climate War” from 8-9pm.
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I watched a video this week of 108-year-old Alice Sommer Herz describing how she and her son not just survived but thrived in the Holocaust to a great degree because she laughed.
“If a mother laughs, how will her children not laugh?” she asks.
This morning just after two of my sons got into a brotherly altercation, my wife [...]

Though I am not entirely sure why, people seem just plain fascinated by the (supposedly) cloistered communities of black clad Jews who briskly swarm — entourage and side curls in tow — through the streets of Brooklyn, the Diamond District and Old Jerusalem. For sure, some of it is the sheer “otherness” of their look [...]

A dear friend once shared a great metaphor to explain “don’t covet,” the last of the 10 commandments.
“Imagine you had a puzzle,” he explained, “and as you worked on it, you noticed your neighbor, too, had a puzzle. And one of his pieces was strikingly beautiful.  Would you want to take it?”
I caught the envy [...]

A Torah teaching that profoundly upgrades my life is “Gam zu l’tova” – there is good in this, too.   Implicit in this teaching is that while we can’t always change negative or unpleasant facets of our life, we can change our relationship to them.
A story
R. Zelig Pliskin is a senior lecturer at Aish in [...]

Most spiritual traditions have a structured methodology through which they strive to make personal or collective contact with the Divine. This practice is commonly referred to as prayer or meditation, and while many might not agree with a particular practice or the enterprise in general, very large swaths of humanity looks upon it as valuable [...]

Inside the personalities, events, language, and mysticism of the weekly Torah portion are your ambitions, questions, self-contradictions, and celebrations. Self-discovery is the ultimate entertainment; Torah is the ultimate entertainment guide.
TONIGHT’S TOPIC (5/14): Shavuot: How the Torah Creates Success (guest speaker)
Where: The Aish Center
Cost: $10 for the evening
Who: YJPs in their 20s-30s