Holidays

No laundries, no showers, no swimming, and no pastrami sandwiches. It seems like the big expression during the Nine Days is: "Just say no!" Please allow me, therefore, to change things up a bit. Here is a list of things you can say "yes" to during this period.

Suggestion: Along with not eating and drinking let us "fast" today from other indulgences...

Ari talks about the holidays of Shavuot and Yom Kippur, the Shofar that connects the two holidays, and the indigenous people of the Land of Israel.

I’m planning to learn and teach the commentary of the Alshich HaKadosh to Megillas Rus. — Rabbi YY Rubinstein, noted author and lecturer

To be honest, I have never met a cheesecake I didn’t like, but over the last few years, I have replaced the vanilla in my cheesecake with bourbon, with fantastic results. It’s a subtle change, but a good one! — Sandy Eller, Monsey, NY

Lag BaOmer marks the date of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's death. So why is it such a celebration?

Nearly every page of the Torah bursts with passionate descriptions about the beauty of the land.

The author of the book Ronit Treatman, the daughter of Israeli diplomats who speaks several languages and lives in Philadelphia, was inspired to write the book after she became involved with the Bnei Anousim, the tens of millions of people around the world descended from forcibly converted Spanish and Portuguese Jews through the organization Reconectar.

The fact that we can taste something as bitter is an affirmation of how sweet our lives generally are.

Rabbeinu Tam has an ingenious solution for how to have Seudah Shlishit on Erev Pesach: eat matzah ashirah [egg matzah].

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The Shulchan Aruch does not even mention the opinion of the Rif and Rambam and states explicitly that the requirement of guarding applies only to the matzah used for the Seder.

The Purim Edition 2021

Purim will essentially mark a full year of living through a pandemic that has radically changed our lives. While we are beyond grateful for the progress with treatments and vaccinations, the return to some sense of normalcy doesn’t seem imminent.

In Mishnaic times, the Megillah was read as early as the 11th of Adar in some towns.

Hug a tree.

One can only marvel at the transformation of the landscape described by Mark Twain to that of today and look forward to a future when the native forest species described in the Bible dominate the landscape.

From almond trees and veganism to ancient languages and Middle Ages sources, Tu B’Shevat is one fascinating festival.

On this day we learn to not only look at tragic events, but also on what led up to them. This is all the more important when talking about the Holocaust

Be a visionary-Happy Chanukah 2020

All agree that the Chanukah candles represent insights

On December 11, the second day of Chanukah, British troops marched into Jerusalem. British commander and chief, General Edmund Allenby respectfully entered its walls by foot through the Jaffa gate as the city’s thirty-fourth conqueror.

A concise, comprehensive guide to the holiday of Hanukkah.

Through this pleasant and special light, may we merit to continue to illuminate and enlighten ourselves and others, long after Channukah is over

In the past, a question came to mind that had been bothering me regarding Succos. My difficulty was with respect to the Succah itself. I...

On Sukkot we are told to be joyful, but why should we be more joyful on Sukkot than any other holiday, and what is the message for us today?

Since a sukkah is a diras aray, a temporary structure, we don’t need a reminder of the dwelling place being temporary compared to Olam Habah.

It seems unlikely that even the stringent opinion requires that sukkah walls be completely motionless when a wind blows.

Wishing all a healthy and festive Sukkot

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