Sign In Forgot Password
Home

blogs/rabbi-huberman

Zaidie and the Two Dollar Bill #790

08/11/2023 03:49:39 PM

Aug11

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Re'eh, Deuteronomy 15:7

If there is a needy person among you...do not harden your heart of shut your hand..." (Deuteronomy 15:7)

    Zaidie and the Two Dollar Bill

There are defining moments in our lives, those which forever shape us. For me, one of those moments occurred one Sunday in early 1961, when my grandfather Nissan...Read more...

Voices at the Western Wall  #788

07/28/2023 06:06:00 PM

Jul28

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Va'etchanan

Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Echad. “Listen oh Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One.” Deuteronomy 6:4

    Voices at the Western Wall

I have a uniquely Jewish question to ask you:

When you offer a personal prayer to God, or when you’ve had an opportunity to place a note Jerusalem’s Western Wall, what...Read more...

Yad Vashem: A Personal Memory #787

07/21/2023 02:01:00 PM

Jul21

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Devarim

"This week’s Torah portion, Devarim, or “words” inspires us to use the privilege of speech to build rather than destroy." 

    Yad Vashem: a personal memory

It’s a long way from Grand Prairie, Alberta to Jerusalem, Israel. The distance is 6,230 miles.

And so it was in January 1998,...Read more...

Conversations In A Jeruselum Cab #786

07/14/2023 04:49:38 PM

Jul14

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

      Conversations in a Jerusalem Cab

On the last day of our recent trip to Israel, as we walked towards an Ethiopian restaurant, one of our participants shared perhaps one of the wisest assessments I’ve ever heard about Israel. 

“Whatever you thought about Israel before you got here—you would be wrong.”

Sharon’s comments came after...Read more...

Debates "In the Name of Heaven"  #784

06/23/2023 06:12:00 PM

Jun23

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Korach Debates "In the Name of Heaven"

A Chassidic story tells of a young man—a promising Talmudic student—who went from town to town, rabbi to rabbi, asking this question:

“Why is there so much suffering in the world?”

Each time he posed the question, the rabbis brushed him off, labeling him a nuisance.

One day, word came that the Chief...Read more...

The Power of Believing in Yourself #783

06/16/2023 06:07:00 PM

Jun16

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Shelach Lecha.  " We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves -- and so we must have looked to them." (Numbers 13:33) The Power of believing in yourself

On my 10th birthday in 1963, my mother presented me with a pocket-sized book that I kept close to my heart well into my teens.

Titled Every Boy’s Handbook, it offered all kinds of information at a time when I was...Read more...

The Power of Light #782

06/09/2023 05:40:00 PM

Jun9

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Beha'alotcha The Power of LIght

On the morning after Hurricane Sandy, I finally—and truly—understood a prayer, which I had been reciting for many years.

“Praised are You, God who rules the universe creating light and fashioning darkness, ordaining the order of all creation.”

Do you remember that morning?

Chances are, if you lived on Long...Read more...

The Most Famous Blessing of All #781

06/02/2023 02:03:00 PM

Jun2

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Nasso The Most Famous Blessing of All

In 1979, archaeologist Gabriel Barkay was examining ancient burial caves at Ketef Hinnom—a sacred site just outside of Jerusalem.

It was a hot summer day, as Barkay and his young assistant, Nattan, rummaged through several dusty damp chambers.

Each was busy working on his own section of the site, when suddenly Barkay...Read more...

Your "Other" Marriage Contract #780

05/30/2023 12:19:57 PM

May30

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Shavuot Your "Other" Wedding Contract

Today — Shavuot — marks the wedding anniversary between the Jewish people and God. 

It is probably the most important Jewish holiday. Yet, ironically, most people have never heard of it.

If you were to ask most people what holiday we are celebrating this weekend, chances they would answer "Memorial Day."

You are not alone.

Indeed, if...Read more...

Echoes of Michael Jackson  #779

05/19/2023 05:03:20 PM

May19

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

  Parashat Barmidbar   Echoes of Michael Jackson

If you’ve spent most of your life living outside New York, visiting “the city” can be daunting.

And so, it was—about 20 years ago—when I began visiting New York in search of a rabbinical school that would be right for me.

Early one Monday afternoon, as I left the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) after a half day of touring and attending...Read more...

Mon, December 1 2025 11 Kislev 5786