​It’s been said that the world’s oldest disease is anti-Semitism. But there is something new about this old disease. In fact, this disease had already mutated three times, and we are now suffering through its fourth mutation. How should we respond? 

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​Remember being nervous about having to take a test? But now imagine that the teacher distributed a study guide with the questions that will be on the test. You’d undoubtedly feel more confident about your chances. Well the teacher has already distributed the questions that you will be tested on, when you take your final, final exam, the admissions test to qualify for Olam Haba (the World to Come).  Start preparing for your final, final exam now.

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​Seeing people in a nuanced manner helps us to simultaneously protect ourselves from being hurt while finding redeeming qualities in those we had previously written off. Yet, our brains are programmed to make sweeping snap judgments about people. How can we fight this tendency and view people in their totality?  

​God is all- powerful and good, yet there is injustice. What is the Jewish response to this seemingly unanswerable contradiction between belief and reality?

​One of today’s most popular buzz words is Mindfulness. Does Mindfulness have any religious value? 

​​Natalie Portman, the Israeli-born American Oscar-award-winning actress, announced that she will not appear in Israel  to accept the Genesis Prize. How should we respond to her proactive actions?  

​1. Why does the Torah say, “When a woman conceives and gives birth, she shall be contaminated for a seven-day period?” However, it seems redundant to say when she conceives and gives birth, for she is only rendered impure after giving birth.
Answer – Rabbi Shlomo Goren (Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1972-1983) explained that the Torah speaks of conception to indicate that motherhood begins at conception, not birth. For example, according to this line of thought, in the case where an egg donor was Jewish, the child would be Jewish even if the birth mother was not. Conversely, if the egg donor was not Jewish but the birth mother was, the baby would not be Jewish unless converted. It should be noted that other Poskim (rabbinic legal authorities) are of the opposing point of view. 
 
2. Why does a woman become impure after childbirth?
Answer – The closest a human can come to God is when a woman gives birth because she becomes a partner in creation. The impurity is caused by the detachment of one life from the other.   No longer is the baby a limb of the mother, but it is a separate being (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks).
3. What is Tzaraat?
Answer – Tzaraat is often equated with leprosy, but it is not. Tzaraat is a spiritual malady with a symptom that resembles leprosy. The Metzora (person afflicted with leprosy) suffers a white discoloration.   When people are afflicted with Tzaraat, it is considered to be a heavenly message that they must examine their actions and change their ways for the better. Typically, first the person’s home was afflicted with Tzaraat, and then, if the person failed to improve, clothing is then afflicted and, finally, the person’s skin.
 
4.  For what sin is one afflicted with Tzaraat?
Answer – According to our sages, one is stricken with Tzaraat for speaking Lashon Hara (evil speech) against another. The sages derive this from the fact that Miriam was stricken with Tzaraat immediately after speaking about Moses’ wife. It should be noted that the purification process for a Metzora includes a seven-day period of quarantine. The Metzora is punished Middah Middah K’neged (measure for measure). Speaking negatively about an individual makes the person feel excluded; therefore, the perpetrator of the harmful speech is now excluded from the community for seven days as part of the rehabilitation process.
 
5. Is it okay to share negative information about someone if it is true?
Answer – No, on the contrary, Lashon Hara is defined as harmful speech which is true and cannot be shared except in certain extenuating circumstances. If one speaks derogatorily of using false information, that person is guilty of another serious sin, Motzi Shem Ra (slander).

​Conventional wisdom is that President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem will hinder the peace process. Is this really the case?

​It has been said that the God of the so called “Old Testament” is a judgmental God. Is that truly the case?