By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — One of the interesting paradoxes of human life is our tendency to copy one another and to try to “fit in” with friends and acquaintances, while simultaneously trying to be distinct from others, and to be our “own person.” The pressures of conformity are very strong in [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — I trace back my love of poetry to Mr. Perle. He taught freshman English in the high school I attended. I remember him as diminutive in stature, but not at all diminutive in his ability to inspire reluctant students to read, and to actually enjoy, fine literature. [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — It is a word that one hears frequently these days, in many contexts. The word is “process.” It is a word that reflects our growing recognition that there are very few things in this world that occur in an instant, yesh me’ayin, something out of nothing. [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK –The custom is fairly prevalent nowadays, but it was not a common practice thirty years ago when my friend raised his sons. He would seek out especially pious rabbis, generally quite elderly ones, to request that they bless his children. In keeping with tradition, these rabbis would place [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — He never returned phone calls. He certainly never returned e-mails. He rarely smiled. He had very sophisticated tastes in wine and fine liquor. A seven-course gourmet dinner with a wine pairing at each course was almost an everyday occurrence for him. He had the vocabulary of a [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — “No man is an island.” “It takes a village.” These are just some of the clichés that are used to convey the importance of social groups, of the realization that people cannot “go at it alone”. But just as it is vital that each of us learns [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — We all applaud when an old man runs in the marathon. We expect that his physical powers diminished long ago, and when he proves otherwise we celebrate for him. We are impressed when an old woman professor can still give an extemporaneous lecture, drawing upon her memory [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK – ”I was wrong. I am sorry. Please forgive me.” These are rare words indeed, but I heard them pronounced clearly by a woman I once worked for, and whom I still admire. She was the superintendent of a small school district just outside of Washington, DC. Several [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — “Words, words, words!”, he shouted at me. He was a young man, raised as an observant Jew, but now in rebellion against his traditional upbringing. His parents had asked me to meet with him for several sessions to see if I could at least temper his [...]
By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb NEW YORK — Whenever I think of people I knew who dressed impeccably, I recall three of my favorite people. One was my maternal grandfather, a businessman who was firmly dedicated to religious observance, but who chose his clothing carefully and was proud of his collection of cufflinks, tie clips, and [...]