Parasha Insights - Chabad of Great Neck

Do You Have A Destiny

Friday, February 27, 2026 - 6:00 AM

This Shabbat is called Shabbat Zachor — the Shabbat of Remembrance. It is the only time during the year that the Torah explicitly commands every individual to come and hear the public reading of Zachor this week.

Synagogues fill as we fulfill the mitzvah to hear: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt.”

First, Zachor is our annual confrontation with a truth the modern world resists: absolute evil exists. The Torah does not allow moral confusion. There is good, and there is evil. There is truth, and there is falsehood. Not every narrative can be contained. There are not always “two sides.” When there is terror, murder, and barbarism, the comman… Read More »

Laser Light and Golden Wings

Friday, February 20, 2026 - 6:00 AM

A Texas farmer once toured England. He met a local farmer and asked proudly, “How big is your farm?”

“Thirty-five acres,” the Englishman replied.

“Thirty-five acres?” the Texan scoffed. “Why, I can get into my truck at 8:00 in the morning, start driving, and by noon, I’m still on my farm. I eat lunch, keep driving, and at 5:00 PM I’m still on my farm.”

The Englishman nodded sympathetically.

“Yes… I once had a truck like that.”

Perspective changes everything.

And sometimes the Torah expands our perspective so dramatically that we fail to notice what it’s trying to show us.

The 187-Day Party

At the opening of Megillas Esther, King Achashverosh throw… Read More »

The Power of a Compliment

Friday, February 13, 2026 - 6:00 AM

Abie and Sadie worked for years in the shmata business. Finally, they made it big, very big. To gain a little cultural legitimacy, they donated generously to the local orchestra and were invited to an elegant, black-tie dinner.

Sadie scans the room, searching for an opening. She overhears a group of women discussing Beethoven. This is her moment.

“Beethoven?” she says confidently. “I know him very well. Just the other day, I saw him on the number five bus going to the beach.”

Silence. Embarrassment. Then laughter.

Abie is mortified. In the car, he explodes:
“Couldn’t you sit quietly? You had to talk?”

“What’s wrong?” Sadie protests. “I did see Beetho… Read More »

Defending Israel When It Was Hardest

Friday, February 6, 2026 - 6:00 AM

The Haftorah of this week’s portion, Yitro, tells the story of one of Israel’s greatest prophets, Yeshayahu. Isaiah cries out:

“Woe is me; I am lost! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”

An angel takes a burning coal from the altar, touches Isaiah’s lips, and declares his sin purged. Then God asks, “Whom shall I send?” and Isaiah answers, “Here am I; send me.”

What was Isaiah’s sin? And why did his mouth need to be purified by fire?

This question inspired one of the most powerful and compassionate letters in Jewish history—written by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, the Rambam.

Maimonid… Read More »