Chaya Shuchat

What is our responsibility toward the environment? To what lengths must we go to protect open spaces or endangered species? And are we at fault for natural disasters?

Some people never ask for our forgiveness. They don’t show remorse, they don’t seem to care that they’ve hurt us, and they may even demean or belittle us for having been hurt. Why should we forgive them?

We live in this world and must learn to adapt to it. Only through playing by its rules can we be successful.

Where are we headed at such breakneck speed?

Although Moses is not completely reconciled to his death in the desert (as we will see later in the Parshah of Va’etchanan), he can not leave the world in peace without knowing that his people will be in good hands.

Have you ever felt totally eclipsed by someone else?

No form of energy is of any use unless there is a way to channel and harness it. Otherwise, the energy simply dissipates.

Though we’re viscerally aware of the negative effects of gossip, how many of us can say that we’ve never indulged in it ourselves?

For the moment, my heart overflows with pride as I witness her burgeoning independence, her sense of self. I know that in a few months or years from now, these traits may not always seem so endearing, but for now, I kvell.

Sometimes our mistake has devastating consequences. In just a moment of thoughtlessness, lives are shattered. The damage is irreversible. Relationships are severed, reputations sullied beyond repair.