"Stiff-necked" is what the Bible calls us. The phrase sounds negative, explains Aviva Zornberg, but it also carries a notion of hyper-loyalty, the paradoxical insusceptibility of becoming unfaithful. This explains why the phrase is used to describe our attachment to the land of Israel: You shall know that not through your merit is the LORD

Upon returning from his first meeting with a Hasidic master, the great sage R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev was asked what he'd learned. He replied: I learned there's a Creator. What does this mean?The verse says: And this day you shall know and take to your heart that the LORD, He is God in the

Tonight (Thursday) we begin the month of Av, the saddest month of the year, on the 9th of Av there is a full day fast that commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. According to some, every Hebrew month also carries a Zodiac sign and the sign for Av is Leo - the lion