This parsha’s message feels especially urgent in our own time. We live in an era of heightened contention, where the drive to be “right” often overshadows the pursuit of truth or peace. [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]

Welcome to akridosis—the Grasshopper Syndrome. A certified Yiddishe classic. If you go around convinced you’re a grasshopper, don’t be shocked when the rest of the world reaches for the Raid. (Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel)

Trump behaves as though decades of deep-seated theological fervor, regional subversion, and nuclear ambition can be resolved simply by finding a transactional middle ground. It treats a fanatical, apocalyptic regime not as an existential threat to be decisively dismantled, but as a difficult business partner holding out for a better contract. (Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel)

It’s as if the Almighty said, “You have a problem with dark skin? How do you like being the whitest person in the desert right now?” [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

If a Cohen is angry at the congregation — maybe because someone parked too close to his car again, or the kiddush ran out of herring — he’s not allowed to bless. (Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel)

On Shavuot we celebrated the greatest moment in Jewish history — the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Our ancestors stood at the foot of that mountain and received the divine blueprint for how to live as a holy people. But our sages, with their sharp eyes and even sharper sense of wordplay, noticed something curious about the location. The mountain is called Sinai. And what does that sound…

Coverage of Israel often portrayed it as a destabilizing force rather than a necessary refuge for a shattered people. By the 1970s and 1980s, legitimate policy critique sometimes slid into rhetoric about excessive Jewish power and dual loyalty. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

The wilderness was the perfect place precisely because life there was so brutally difficult — and that is often exactly where God chooses to speak. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

Singapore and Gaza present two of the most striking contrasts in urban development and resource management, despite both being small, densely populated coastal territories. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

The Hebrew language is gloriously rich in words for “poor person.” We’ve got dal, evyon, oni, rash — a whole thesaurus of poverty. Yet when the Torah lays down the laws about helping the poor, it refuses to use any of them. Instead, it keeps repeating one single word: achicha — “your brother.” [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

What makes this book shine is its consistent structure: sharp questions on the text, insights drawn from Chazal, classical commentaries, and Chassidic thought (especially Chabad), followed by the powerful “Making It Relevant” section. These practical takeaways and reflective exercises are the book’s greatest gift—they transform passive reading into active spiritual growth, helping readers see the…

He approaches the Torah not as an infallible divine dictation but as a profoundly human document shaped by historical context, one that still radiates divine sparks and enduring ethical power. This perspective grants him the freedom to question, reinterpret, and reclaim troubling narratives that have challenged readers for generations. {Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel}

I once read a piece that hit me like a truck. It said: If you’re around 35, after subtracting sleep, work, commuting, scrolling, eating, bathroom breaks, doctor visits, and all the other necessary nonsense… you’ve only got about 500 days left of truly free, usable life in the next 35 years. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

This Midrash beautifully underscores the Jewish preference for the wrestler over the effortless saint. Angels may be flawless, but they cannot truly fulfill mitzvot that demand overcoming desire. Only flesh-and-blood people, locked in Sartre’s No Exit with their own cravings, can achieve the profound moral heroism the Torah celebrates. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

When a religious leader pours the "milk" of unconditional pacifism into the "meat" of a life-and-death military struggle, the result is a curdled moral confusion. This mixture makes it impossible to digest the hard reality of defense, leading to a "forbidden" policy that benefits neither the state nor the soul. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

It is a phrase uttered with a smile, a wink, and the clinking of glasses. Yet, to dismiss this as harmless folklore is to ignore the blood-soaked soil from which such language grew and the moral rot it continues to nourish in the modern era. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

Aaron and Job stand at opposite poles of the same unbearable truth: when the world collapses, silence can feel like the only honest response—and yet silence can also become a prison. We know this, don’t we? [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

Jason Abranches, great-grandson of Portuguese Consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and Arturo Levin, whose mother and grandmother were saved by Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara, will share how ordinary diplomats risked everything to become extraordinary rescuers. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

Dr. Samuel’s very informative and readable book teaches us what kabbalah and mysticism are, their history, the people involved, the countries they were associated with, the influences and impact of these ideas on their lives and others' lives, and the problems they posed. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

At the heart of Shyfrin’s project lies an informational ontology—the view that information, rather than matter or energy alone, constitutes the fundamental substrate of reality. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

What sets Weinstein’s work apart from standard references (ArtScroll’s dictionaries, the Jastrow Talmud lexicon, or even free online tools like Sefaria’s glossaries) is its deliberate accessibility and Orthodox integrity. Every entry was vetted through Torah-centric sources only—no secular etymology or Reform reinterpretations. [Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel]

In this week’s parsha, Tsav, the Torah pivots from the "how-to" of the offerings to a repeated, severe prohibition: “You shall not eat any blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwelling places” (Leviticus 7:26). [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

Whenever I read the Book of Leviticus, I find myself asking: What is the purpose of sacrifices—especially for people living in the 21st century? Leviticus may not have the excitement of Genesis or Exodus, but I do believe there is much we can learn from its lessons and laws. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

On Shabbat, we receive an expanded vitality: heightened joy, deeper peace, expanded capacity for gratitude, and a profound sense of wholeness. It is as if God breathes fresh life into us anew, allowing our souls to "catch up" and even surpass the pace of the week. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

Moses climbed the mountain to receive the tablets. He carries no provisions, no visible sign of return. Day after day the people wait. No Moses. No voice from the peak. Only silence and the smoldering summit. In their minds the unthinkable takes shape: the man who brought them out of Egypt, who split the sea, who spoke face to face with God—he is gone. Perhaps swallowed by the fire. Perhaps dead.…

Beyond the surface-level parody, the Spiel functions as a sophisticated tool for the mastery of terror. By transforming a genocidal antagonist—whether the biblical Haman or his modern iterations—into a buffoonish, pitiable caricature, the community performs a collective "reclamation of power." [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

This edition presents Sacks’ own modern English translation of the Torah, a compiled commentary drawn primarily from his Covenant & Conversation series, along with books, lectures, and other writings—with the sections for Shemot through Bo newly adapted for this project. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

She boards the plane like anyone else, and suddenly she's in the middle of a nightmare. Now, as a retired cultural anthropologist and professor emerita from the University of Arizona, she brings this incredible mix of lived experience and scholarly eye to the story. She doesn't just recount what happened—she digs into how it messed with her head and heart for decades. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo…

The priestly garments and the Purim masks both speak to the same truth: external appearance can conceal, reveal, or transform inner reality. [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]

This week's parsha, Terumah, opens with one of the Torah's most profound invitations: “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). [Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel]