Michael Mantell

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — It’s been 60 years since I hearkened to the glorious words, “Yaamod Ha’Bachor ha’Bar Mitzvah Moshe Rafoyel ben Betzalel Shlishi,” and chanted this parasha, Tetzaveh, at Temple B’nai Abraham in Newark, N.J., under the watchful eye and full heart of Rabbi Joachim Prinz, zt”l. I recall our […]

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. In this week’s Torah reading, we learn of a gift that Hashem has given to us, yes, another gift, this, the gift of giving. Want to grow happier and more joyful than you are? Terumah teaches us a way — give. Want to live with a sense of abundance and

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. This week’s Torah reading has been described as a pivot point in the Book of Exodus, where we drill down to the details of behavior in an ideal relationship with Hashem. We see repeatedly that behavior over belief is what is critical in our faith. It says quite dramatically: וַיִּקַּח֙

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. In this week’s parasha, Yitro, one of the six portions termed for an individual, we discover the Ten Commandments, the Aseret HaDib’rot, being revealed to Moses and to the Israelites in the wilderness. We see from this pinnacle experience that the Torah can be learned anywhere, even in a wilderness,

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. It’s mighty difficult to sing while confined within onerous circumstances. As we read in this week’s parasha, only after we were freed, we were able to recognize Hashem as the God of creation at the Red Sea. Welcome to “Shabbos Shirah — the “Sabbath of Song.” A time to become infused

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D. SAN DIEGO — In each weekly Torah reading, we find insightful and profound lessons for our emotional evolution. This week’s parasha is certainly teeming with weighty psychological education. Often in life we become complacent in our personal station. It may not be particularly beneficial, it may not be what we ideally long

How do you manage the pressure of hail in your life? No, not the hail that might fall once every few years in our generally warm San Diego rainy seasons. The hail I’m referring to is that which comes as adversity and misfortune, the type that Pharaoh experienced in this week’s Torah reading. Pharaoh told Moshe after the plague of hail, “I’ve sinned this time and God is righteous and me and my people are wicked.” But as soon as the hail cleared, Pharaoh stepped back from his admission. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

What sustains you through setbacks in life? Is it your self-confidence? After all, pop psychology would have us believe that what it takes is simply true belief in yourself. But this week’s parasha Vayechi, teaches us that what strengthened and motivated Joseph was a genuine understanding of Divine providence. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

For those who cherish the gift of life and all the possibilities it brings, striving for a gentle life makes sense. Forgiveness is one path to a more peaceful, soothing, and kinder life. This week’s Torah reading provides a way to move towards this life, with Joseph’s heroism, understanding, tolerance, and compassionate forgiveness as our blueprint. After all, forgiveness, redemption, and growth are always central to our lives, and especially in current times. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

This week’s parasha, Miketz, falls out during Chanukah. Yet, Chanukah isn’t mentioned even once in all of our Torah. Recall that in last week’s parasha, Vayeishev, Joseph was thrown into a pit. Joseph prayed and Hashem answered his prayers. This week, we read how his life changed, how Hashem saved his family and by extension, our lives as Jews as well, and how Joseph prayed prayers of thanksgiving…as do we, for Hashem delivering us miraculously as he did Joseph. Our endurance has little to do with military capacity or political perceptiveness, both clearly important, but rather from our own inner determination that is launched in our faith. This is the link between Miketz and Chanukah. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

You’ve heard it many times, “Man plans, G-d laughs.” Or perhaps, like me, you’ve heard this version, “Mentsch tracht, Gott lacht.” I like “Man thinks, G-d Winks.” Regardless, like all of us who prefer to live without being mutchet or tcheppeht, (pressured or bothered), Jacob found that life has its challenges and disappointments. Just when we think all is well in our family, in our career, in our lives, G-d shows us that He has another lesson for us to learn. It seems the only thing predictable about life is how unpredictable it can be. [Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D]

This week’s Torah reading has more passukim, 154 verses, than any other in Sefer Bereishis. There must be a good reason, and indeed, there are many lessons from which we can derive benefit inside the depth of these many verses. The parasha is bursting with scheming, compromise, desire, retaliation, hostility, birth, and death. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]