Balancing Immediacy with Decency Parashat Yitro 5785 / R Nico Socolovsky There is something deeply frustrating—infuriating, even—about the stage that social media gives to antisemites. It’s not just that Kanye West says something grotesquely hateful. It’s that his words are amplified, consumed, and recycled in real time, spreading across the internet before anyone can even formulate a response. The
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R Nico Socolovsky / Parashat Beshalach Who doesn’t love a good Would You Rather? But even the best ones often have a hidden sting. Sometimes, it’s not about choosing what you want—it’s about choosing what you can live with. Would you rather always feel like there’s a pebble in your shoe or have an itch you can never quite scratch?Would
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The seder is the tool we use to assure that we are never going back to the land of narrowness. Passover invites us to look at our sometimes difficult realities through a lens of potential and prosperity. “Dayenu,” is not a song of conformism but a profound act of defiance. It is a reminder that even when surrounded by adversity, we must cling to the sparks of light we find. In the spirit of “Dayenu,” we celebrate what we have, because that is the premise for us to be able to walk the walk of redemption today.
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We Will Rise and We Will Live It’s been thirty days — a shloshim that has deeply etched itself into our hearts, narrowing our world with an indescribable loss. As we recite ‘Yitgadal,’ we seek not just to remember the magnitude of those we’ve lost, but to rediscover the expansiveness of spirit that now feels so distant. With each day
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Raise your hand if you would take a bribe? Now, let me rephrase my question… Do you have any biases? It’s a straightforward question, but the answer is trickier than it seems. The Pasuk says… There is a verse in parashat Shoftim that clearly states “You shall not take a bribe.” (Deut 16:19) Don’t let anything deviate your judgment. And here
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“Have you Ever dreamed of ruling a kingdom? Be A King! Feel Like A King! The invitations to join this fantasy royal family are all over the place from Disney movies to mattresses advertising: Sleep Like A Queen! Our Sidra this week, Parashat Shoftim has a variation of this invitation to royalty! Deut 17:14 ידכִּֽי־תָבֹ֣א אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ֙ נֹתֵ֣ן
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By R Nico Soco I love you, I love you because you give me space. I love you because you have space not only for me but also for my siblings who came to you from the four corners of the earth. Because in your heart there is room not only for us but also for them and in that
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In every generation, one must see oneself as if one had personally experienced the Exodus from Egypt. As it is written: “You shall speak to your children on that day, saying, this is how the Holy Blessed One redeemed me from Egypt. Isn’t it puzzling that despite the horrors and hardship of slavery, the children of Israel weren’t eager to
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If Yom HaKippurim is about connecting with our souls through structural purity, then the revelation of Purim is about connecting with our souls through disorganized, messy mundane experiences!
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Inventory Reconciliation: “Inventory reconciliation is the process of comparing physical inventory counts with records of inventory on hand”. No, I am not reading the wrong script, because parashat pekudei is indeed an inventory reconciliation. Pekudei is the last in a sequence of five Torah portions dedicated to the building of the Tabernacle. Now, after asking for a variety of contributions,
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Po Ve Sham 