Seeing 20/20, Even In 2020
Be a visionary-Happy Chanukah 2020
MASTERING THE ART OF INSIGHTS
All agree that the Chanukah candles represent insights
Chanukah 1917: Jerusalem is Liberated
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.
Falling Sick Days Before Your Wedding
My necessary suffering was clear: postponing the wedding, entering isolation, placing my relatives in isolation, treating the headaches and other corona symptoms that had begun to appear. Despite all of this, I had to cope. That was clear.
Daf Yomi
The Shoemaker’s Children
‘If One Can Eat, One Can Sell’
(Pesachim 21a)
The King’s Emissary
My mother often recounted this story because of the incredible hashgacha pratit.
A Young Boy – And A Talmid Chacham
He tried to size me up based on that one moment. He didn’t take into account all the effort I had been putting in.
Who Shall Live…
A few more days went by and I became more and more concerned. The burning smell was unrelenting. I again asked for an inspection.
Little Did They Know…
How, might you ask, in the middle of Italian neighborhoods would Rav Mintz be able to ferret out Jewish families?
Does Judaism Champion Mindfulness?
The upshot of these responses is that tranquility and peace of mind can never be goals in and of themselves in Judaism.
250 Rabbis Decry Misuse Of The Word ‘Orthodox’
For several centuries, the term ‘Orthodox Judaism’ has been synonymous with Torah observance – commitment to following the 613 Commandments and Rabbinic enactments as described in our classical sources.
A Threat From Outside
Openness to acculturation, assimilation, and the foreign influences of the street leads to the destruction of the sanctity of the Jewish home.
A Victory For Jewish Purity
For chassidim, Kislev features another celebration. On the 19th of Kislev in 1798, the Alter Rebbe was released from Czarist imprisonment.
Hanukkah: What, How and Why
A concise, comprehensive guide to the holiday of Hanukkah.
Whose Oil Is It?
Yaakov couldn’t remember who handed him his oil bottle and both Avraham and Yitzchak insisted he was the one who did so.
The Power Of Praise
No one has all the strengths. Sufficient if we have one. But we must also know what we lack.
Channukah ‘En-LIGHT-enment’
Through this pleasant and special light, may we merit to continue to illuminate and enlighten ourselves and others, long after Channukah is over
Q & A: The Chanukah Candles And Danger
Question: The Gemara says the menorah should be placed outside the front door of one’s house but can be placed inside if one is worried about anti-Semitism. But how does placing the menorah solve this problem? Won’t the candles be seen through the window? And if the gentiles are really hostile, can’t they search our homes?
Menachem
To Be A Wise Guy (Part I)
Rabbi Pappenheim also argues that “cheich” [palate] comes from “chakah” because the open fish net resembles a person’s mouth opened wide in anticipation of food.
Is It Proper…? Is it appropriate to read works of fantasy – say, Harry...
Is it appropriate to read works of fantasy – say, Harry Potter, for example?
The Rabbi Of All Thieves
There are many people in the world that don’t fit into these prestigious groups of individuals. What will be of them? Who wants to know them? Who can be proud of them?
When God Intrudes on Science
Ramban’s view of yibum has long fascinated me, because of the metaphysics it assumes about a seemingly natural event.
How Portland’s Rabbi Got in a Gunfight at the President’s hotel
They take their Nusach VERY seriously. It became official in 1879, the year before Oregon’s first (and hopefully only) Rabbinical gunfight.
The Virus of Playing God
Whether reacting to a fallen sefer Torah in a community or someone’s personal illness, we are never in a position to tell people why things are happening to them. To do so, particularly with confidence and surety, is not only arrogant, it is to play God and compete with the Divine. It borders on heresy, even if you have “rabbi” before your name.
The Passenger
Enjoy? I loved every minute. Wish I could go back. I still remember the songs we sang, the stories he told.
Necessary Vs. Unnecessary Suffering
To our dismay, the pandemic is a fact. But it’s not necessary that we become addicted to screens, to eating junk food, to wasting time, to cutting social ties, to sinking into pessimism. The pandemic doesn’t exempt us from decisions on how to behave.
Q & A: Forgetting To Mention Rain In The Amidah (Part II)
Question: Recently the chazzan in my shul created a stir when he didn’t include the proper mention of rain during chazaras hashatz. Our rabbi didn’t require him to repeat the Amidah, but many congregants felt the rabbi erred and murmured their discontent. Who was right and how can we, in a tactful way, prevent such a lapse from occurring again?
A Concerned Congregant
A Successive Tribute To Lion of Justice Norman Rosenbaum, z”l (Part 3)
Norman Rosenbaum was the only one in his family up to making the trans-world trip and accepting the challenge.
Countdown to Chanukah: Healing Light
“What new light has been added to your life?”