RABBI'S BLOG & DRASHOT
Below you can find transcripts of Rabbi Goldstein's drashot, which are delivered on a weekly basis on Shabbat morning, as well as some of his other articles and divrei Torah. Enjoy!!
Drasha Mikketz 5781
The Dr. Jill Biden Controversy and Something More Important Than Titles
Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D was the title of a very controversial article published by the WSJ in which the author, Joseph Epstein recommended that Jill Biden drop the honorific because it feels fraudulent and even comical. It opened Madame First Lady — Mrs. Biden — Jill — kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter," Epstein began the column. "Any chance you might drop the 'Dr.' before your name?" and went on to Criticize the level of actual scholarship required to get a PHD today in general as well as hers specifically, Epstein essentially argued that PHDs are not as prestigious as they once were, and simply speak to the holder’s pretentiousness.
This article immediately became a partisan lightening rod. Democrats accused the author not only of being wrong but of sexism, condescension and the WSJ should never have published it. Jill Biden herself responded that she worked very hard for her doctorate and was very proud of it. That she was caught off guard by the tone and use of the word kiddo. Conservative media figures such as Ben Shapiro defended it as well as the WSJ public editor for having printed it.
As such I wanted to take a moment to talk about titles- or perhaps something more important than titles. It is very clear in many areas of the Torah that titles matter.
... To continue reading click here
Drasha Vayeishev 5781
Your Life Is Not A Statistic
If I were to ask you what is the most important mitzvah in the Torah- what would you say? Idolatry… Torah Studay… Tzedakkah… VaAhvata Lereacha KKamocha- Love your neighbor like you love yourself. Great answer! No one less than Hillel the Elder felt the same way. And its true. Its beautiful. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Follow the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would od unto yourself. But listen to this incredibly politically incorrect question and answer posed by one of our all time greatest Rabbis- Nachmanides that call us all out. He asks how is it possible to love your friend as you love yourself? Everyone knows that you love yourself the most? And he answers that’s true. One cannot love their friend as much as they love themselves, but rather it refers to seeking their welfare in all regards. Because often you may like someone but begrudge them in one aspect says the Torah love them in all aspects. But be that as it may- think about the Ramban's observation. One cannot love anything more than they love themselves. Our love of self, our focus on our self-advancement according to the Ramban is an immutable part of human nature, that even G-d didn’t feel he could command us to go against. ... To continue reading click here
Drasha Vayishlach 5781
Pfizer, Moderna, & The Inevitability of a Vaccine
Baruch HaShem in the past few weeks, as the major drug companies, Pfizer, Moderna submitted for emergency approval from the FDA, it seems like we should begin to have one in very short order. What is beginning to loom large is the logistics of delivering nearly 100 million doses to the American public, especially with the Moderna vaccine needed to be stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature cold enough to harden ice cream into a spoon-breaking block of ice, and that only specialized freezers can produce. But Baruch HaShem the harder problem to solve, the vaccine itself, seems to be basically ready.
However From the beginning of the Pandemic I have been struck by the aura of inevitability surrounding the creation of a vaccine for the novel Coronavirus... To continue reading click here
Drasha Vayeitze 5781
Thanksgiving, Guestbooks and Everyday Opportunities
I remember one time as a kid growing up my parents were selling a used car in our driveway. And they were asking a or a few thousand dollars and a Hispanic man with a friend, knocked on the door and offered like $1000 for it. And my father said no he is asking three thousand. And the man turned to his friend in Spanish and said the Jew isn’t for real, we can bargain him down. Now as you know my father is from Bogota Colombia and he is obviously fluent in Spanish, but I guess a Jewish dentist named Goldstein didn’t exactly fit the picture they had in their mind of a Spanish speaker. Be that as it may, my father answered them in Spanish that this Jew is absolutely dead serious and you can get out of here. One can only imagined how startled the two men were when they realized that every word that they had said was understood. To continue reading click here.