The universal language of humor breaks down barriers, eases tension, and opens hearts. It is medicine for the body and soul. Laughter replaces narrowness with roominess — and allows even the most guarded to evolve into a vessel able to receive.

In the spirit of Rabbah, who began his shiur with a milsa d’bedichusa, a light matter that opened up the hearts of his students, A Time to Laugh, A Time to Listen on the Parashah precedes each essay on the Parashas Hashavua with a humorous story — making it a perfect tool to engage the family around the Shabbos table.

David HaMelech writes in Tehillim: “And they shall rejoice with trepidation.” Indeed, these two powerful emotions of joy and fear not only coexist but complement one another when they combine to inspire serious contemplation that generates growth and change. The joy felt through humor may be temporary at best, but when it helps to teach a lesson for life, that joy can be eternal.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Rabbi Yehoshua Kurland, a long-time talmid of Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld, zt”l, has warmed the hearts of hundreds of students throughout his forty-seven years as a maggid shiur in Yeshivas Sh’or Yoshuv in Far Rockaway, New York. He is a popular speaker, renowned educator, and bestselling author of eleven other books on Jewish thought and hashkafah, including A Time to Laugh, A Time to Listen, volumes 1, 2, and 3; A Time to Dance on marriage; A Time to Conceal, A Time to Reveal on Purim and Chanukah; and Kosher Laughs and Lessons for Life, volumes 1, 2, and 3.