Weekly Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 18, Parshas Terumah

March 1, 2025; 1 Adar, 5785 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara

How does one become more honest? The answer is that one should practice acts of kindness (Chessed). In Tehillim 85:11 it states, “kindness and truth meet.” The Asher L’Shmuel in Shaar HaChessed (p. 168) writes that the simple explanation of this verse is that a direct repercussion of engaging in Chessed is the development of the quality of Emes. It is also interesting to note that people perceive those that are kind to be honest and trustworthy. In a Gallup poll (Dec. 2, 2022), a sample of people were surveyed regarding how much they trusted others in various professions. Participants had a chance to cast their votes for people in 18 different professions.)...

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Weekly Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 17, Parshas Mishpatim

February 22, 2025; 24 Shevat, 5785 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara

QUESTION: I work in the Bronx and coming back from the school where I work, I got into a car accident. I had a green light and was driving straight. The other driver, a gentile from the Bronx, failed to stop at his red light and drove into the path of my car. At first, the driver admitted that he was at fault and said he would pay for the damage. However, after a few moments, he changed his mind and said that I had been the one who had run the red light. Is there a prohibition for a gentile to lie? If there is, is it appropriate to try to convince the gentile driver to tell the truth, or is it better to just leave it to our respective insurance companies to straighten things out?...

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Weekly Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 16, Parshas Beshalach

February 8, 2025; 10 Shevat, 5785 Sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shleimah of Yair Nissan Ben Sara

Emes can sometimes be defined as personal integrity - maintaining deeply held values, even if it comes at great personal cost. When Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky ZT”L was serving as the rabbi of a small town in Lithuania before World War II, his salary was paid from the tax that the town levied on Kosher meat. During this period, he noticed that some poor families were buying meat that was not kosher because it was cheaper, even though they really wanted to keep kosher.

Instead of ignoring the situation or simply condemning the purchase of the non-kosher meat, Rabbi Kamenetsky took a voluntary pay cut...

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