Michael el Chayil

Anyone who has been married for more than a couple of days knows there are ups and downs in any relationship. Anyone who has been married for several decades knows that the different pressures we endure during different stages of our life -- first married, starting to have children, building a career while paying for tuitions and camp, empty nesting, even -- I have heard -- some people have to get used to the husband retiring. Even the best and strongest marriages have endured difficult times. In fact, just as any other area of growth, those challenges are precisely what contributed to the strength of the marriage. That being said, there are some challenges that still make us uncomfortable years later. We are overjoyed that we were able to remain strong, but the mistakes can still haunt us as we strive to never make those kinds of mistakes again. Our relationship with HaShem as His chosen nation is no different. We are living in galus now. Still His chosen nation, but still separating ...

Who could forget Shabbos? Whether you like the preparation or just find it stressful, no one forgets Shabbos. It is impossible to forget Shabbos. Our whole week revolves around Shabbos. Even when making plans for vacations and simchas, Shabbos is front and center. You can't travel on Shabbos, so it is not forgotten. If you are in a hotel, getting in and out with all the electronics is a modern Shabbos problem. We need special food for Shabbos, which has to be prepared before Shabbos. It is simply impossible to forget Shabbos. So why is there a specific commandment, literally etched in stone (sapphire, actually), to remember Shabbos? Some background. This came up when the Rosh Kollel, R' Yosef Rajchenbach, shlita, was giving his Friday morning chumash shiur on parshas לֶךְ־לְךָ֛, which commences with the first (at least first explicitly mentioned in the Torah) test of Avraham. The Rosh Kollel noted that the command was for Avraham to go forth. And what does Avraham get for leavi...

R' Fuerst used to give a shiur in Mishna Brura on Monday nights for ba'al habatim. (The dayan now gives a shiur on Sunday mornings. I still miss that Monday night shiur.) Once, when we were discussing tzitzis, the dayan said he always ties his own tzitzis, because he wants to be sure they are tied correctly. One of the ba'al habatim said that he only buys pre-tied tzitzis, also because he wants to be sure they are tied correctly. Sometimes it is just better to leave things to the experts. As the angels are traveling to S'dom to destroy the greater S'dom metropolitan area, which encompasses five cities, Avraham Avinu is desperately working to find any merit to save the cities. Avraham davens all day, but in the end is unsuccessful. The angels -- who have been waiting with hope that Avraham could find some way to save the cities -- must not enter to carry out HaShem's decree. They first need to save Lot and his immediate family. Lot -- worried about his stuff -- d...

Avraham broke all but one of the idols in Terach's store, left the hammer in the lap of the remaining idol, then feigned innocence to Terach that the remaining idol had smashed the others, to which Terach said, "That's ridiculous, that idol can't move!", to which Avraham replied, "Exactly." Which earned Avraham a trip to Nimrod's fiery furnace -- sold out by his own father! -- and was miraculously saved. Terach and Nimrod were not idiots. They knew very well that the idols couldn't move. What was Avraham trying to tell his father? And what get Terach so worked up that he was willing to have his son executed? I worked for a number of years for a national lab (the SSC ) that had scientists from all over the world. For some time I carpooled with (among others, there were four of us who took turns making the one hour drive) a lady from India. One morning -- I think she was a bit late and was apologetic -- she mentioned that she has a little idol at h...

I once worked as the physicist in the radiation oncology department of a hospital. (I tried to convince my eight year old grandson that I was a "real" doctor because I worked in a hospital. He didn't buy it.) I worked there in the late 1980s and we had a treatment planning system from the 1960s. In those 20+ years there were enormous strides in computer technology. Still pre-Internet (although I did manage to set up email by connecting to a nearby university), but we did have personal computers by that time and our treatment planning system was the size of a small table, no monitor nor even keyboard; information was keyed in with switches. Primitive even then. I decided to make an appointment with the president of the hospital to pitch a new treatment planning system. I got all my information together, found a system that was up-to-date with current technology, expandable, and affordable. It had everything we needed; nothing fancy, but full featured. Not a luxury vehicle,...

Part of our slichos davening during the Days of Awe and now for בה''ב is that our prayers be answered as Avraham Avinu was answered at Mount Moriah -- at the עקידה/the binding of Yitzchak. Obviously that was an incredible experience for both our ancestors and for all generations of Jews since then. The עקידה is a core part of our davening whenever we are looking for merit. I always understood the merit to be that Avraham and Yitzchak were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for Avodas HaShem. That is certainly true. The question though, is what does that have to do with davening? Where do you see that Avraham Avinu  davened in that monumental event? I saw this question in R' Matisyahu Salomon on the 10 Days of Repentance. I don't know about you, but I feel pretty pressured to say all the words of slichos as fast as I can. At the end of each section, when the chazan starts a new slicha/paragraph, I skip to there also. (R' Fuerst advised me to do that!) I try to pa...