Jewish Religion

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO–This year, the first night of Chanukah is Tuesday December 16, 2014, at which time we will light one Chanukah light plus the shamash. The second night we light 2 lights plus a shamash. The third night we light 3 lights plus a shamash, and so on and so forth

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Lashon Ha-rah, literally “bad tongue” is usually defined as saying or writing things which defame or slander one’s neighbor. However, what if one speaks the truth? If one’s neighbor has done something bad or unkind, is it still lashon ha-rah if you repeat it? Judaism says “yes.” If

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO — A mitzvah is a precious gift for us to cherish always, wherever we are, whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, as the following true story illustrates: Thirty thousand Boy Scouts joined together in Virginia for a national Boy Scout Jamboree. Among the myriad groups of scouts who attend

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO –A Rabbi was giving a lecture and commented that everything mentioned in the Torah teaches us a deep eternal lesson that has a dramatic impact on our lives today and for all time. Every word of Torah is precious. A scoffer in the audience sneered,”What great lesson do we

By Rabbi Baruch Lederman SAN DIEGO– A man once came to Rabbi Shmuel Rozovsky (1913-1979), the rosh yeshiva (dean) of Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, regarding a boy in the yeshiva who had been proposed as a match for his daughter. He asked the rosh yeshiva how many hours a day the boy learned; was he

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO–This week’s parasha begins with Yitzchak’s genealogy: “These are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham. Avraham begot Yitzchak.” (Gen. 25:19) Usually when we think about generations of human beings and their descendants we are referring to their children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, and other family members of the next