Nothing is Totally Negative

In every negative situation there are opportunities to find something positive that offers some compensation for the negative experience. For example, G-d compensates a blind person’s loss of sight by strengthening his other senses. But sometimes the loss itself, the negative experience itself, has a compensating positive side. In his late eighties, the Chofetz Chaim…

First Steps in Elul

Everyone knows the verse in Shir Hashirim (6:3) that is used to interpret the name of this month that precedes the High Holy Days. The letters which spell Elul in Hebrew correspond to the first letters in each word of the passage אני לדודי ודודי לי (I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me). “My…

Self-Renewal

We have pointed out that even though problems may not change, a person changes, and when a person changes, his experience of his problems changes. This means that even a problem that won’t go away may become much easier to live with in the course of time because it may simply lose its importance in…

Chanukah Insights

The Midrash says on the verse in Shir HaShirim: Hadudaim nasnu raiach (the mandrakes gave fragrance)—zeh Reuven shehitzil es Yosef (this refers to Reuven, who saved Yosef). Hapischeinu kol megadim (our doorways are laden with fine fruits)—zeh ner Chanukah (this is the light of Chanukah). What do the dudaim (there is a dispute among rishonim…