What is worse than a philandering marriage therapist, an obese dietician, or a lying ethics counselor? A conceited man of G-d. The two are mutually exclusive; you are either a servant of G-d or a servant of your ego. There is a story of an ethics professor caught cheating on his taxes who defended himself by saying, “My colleague teaches algebra; does that mean he has to become a triangle?”

In the secular world, knowledge may be academic, but in the spiritual world, you cannot give what you do not have. To help others, you must first find the truth within yourself. If we try to give what we don’t have, we fail others and ourselves. This was the practice of the second Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Dov Ber of Lubavitch. He refused to counsel others on their faults until he found a refined version of that same flaw within himself. Only after he plotted his own way out would he lead others toward the light.

The Silent Night In this week’s Torah portion, Moses informs the Jewish people that G-d desires a home among them. This was astounding news. Less than three months earlier, they had worshipped the Golden Calf. This invitation meant G-d had truly forgiven them, reestablishing the Sinai covenant to dwell among them, and through them, in the world.

Yet, a curious detail emerges: Moses returned from the mountain with the second tablets, bursting with this revelation, but he did not share it........

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