Judaism

Last week's column evoked tremendous response. Many men contacted me expressing interest in meeting the young lady. I will be more than happy to follow-up. However, it's my policy to make shidduch recommendations only after I meet the candidates. So to all those who wrote, may I suggest you call our office for an appointment?

The path of Chabad, on the other hand, while maintaining the close Rebbe-chassid relationship, emphasizes personal labor in serving Hashem.

None of us, of course, can be so presumptuous as to compare ourselves with Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

The story of the Exodus from Egypt teaches us to be alert and attentive to “windows of opportunity” that appear in our lives – so seize them.

Rashi, quoting the midrash, takes the discussion in another direction by noting that “asher” doubles as an allusion to “ashrei,” meaning happy, praiseworthy, or fortunate.

You are my candle, Hashem, and Hashem brightens my darkness.

Each person is destined from Above to be in a particular place at a given time. At that time and place, there is something holy that they specifically must accomplish in that place.

Yet, ultimately, looking back, these “setbacks” turned out to be really for the patient’s best – for the good.

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Rav Kook was incensed over the relinquishing of ownership of the Western Wall. "No one," he declared, "possesses that power of attorney."

A practical suggestion towards making a reality of the Mitzvos behind the meaning of the word “Eikev": Write down the two Mitzvos-going to a Beis Midrash, and going to Eretz Yisrael-on a piece of paper and hang it on the fridge. Each day, look at it and ask, “What have I done today in order to try and make these Mitzvos more of a reality?”

"You do know that nothing occurs without reason. Can you think of something you might have done to bring on your malaise?"

The difference between the current era and the future messianic era is our ability to recognize Hashem's goodness within the bad. This is the meaning of Hashem's name currently lacking Oneness.

Question: When reciting a berachah in English, does a person fulfill his obligation if he says “Hashem” instead of “L-rd” or “G-d”? Yosef

The truth is that a mitzvah may not be the result of belief but rather the means to come to believe.

“All of us are presently learning a course in ‘How to live with uncertainty.’ From my experience, to succeed in this course you need to open your heart to embrace the unexpected.

Moshe’s Request ‘I Love My Master, My Wife, My Children …' (Kiddushin 22a)

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His mesmerizing address, about “three epiphanies” he experienced in Jerusalem, was a Zionist masterpiece!

How far we are from those distant halachic discussions regarding a public oven for several families...

Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time. -Thomas Carlyle

Needless to say, it was done and they formed a great relationship as his friend and mentor. He started attending services and volunteered his time all along putting on tefillin.

The older and wiser that we get the more we realize that those prehistoric parents and grandparents are not as out of date as we thought.

Question: In the course of my travels, I have discovered that some chazzanim say “Ga’al Yisrael” right before Shemoneh Esreh aloud while others say it with their voices fading. Is one practice correct and the other incorrect? M. Goldman

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Question: If a person was ill on Shabbos and unable to go to shul to hear Keri’at haTorah, must he have someone read it to him in shul upon his recovery. Sincerely, Isaac Greenberg

Every morning and throughout the day my phone would buzz nonstop with holy Jews on these groups looking to contribute in any way they could.

Rabbeinu Yonah (Gerondi), most famously known for his Sefer Shaarei Teshuvah, writes how worthy is the individual who observes the protective restraints that were instituted to guard the fulfillment of the mitzvos, over and above his actual performance of the mitzvah itself.

Question: I’ve always been intrigued by the large assemblage that gathers at the gravesite of R. Meir Ba’al HaNes in Tiberias on his yahrzeit, the 14th of Iyar. Why is such attention directed to his gravesite, in particular? F. Hager

In looking up a pasuk online, the first result one gets is usually the King James translation or another Christian translation. Can one use this translation if the pasuk isn’t Isaiah 53:5 or something similar?