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While it is often compared to the Mishnah Berurah, as it served as the alternative to the Mishnah Berurah throughout the Sephardic world, it differs greatly both in structure and approach to halacha.

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In honor of my grandson’s bar mitzvah, and in honor of what I hope and pray will be a long lifetime of his putting on tefillin every day, I have selected for this article some of my favorite bar mitzvah and tefillin items from my collection.

Ben shared that he and Mor had bounced around different names, but they seemed to have become more Israeli and more Tzioni over time.

While my allergies and mop-top may have me feeling like a nazir, the fact is I’m far from it. Without Sefira and migraines, I’d be asking for a pair of scissors and a corkscrew!

Faced with the breakdown of society’s moral and ethical norms, Chazal anticipated the innate human desire to flee from the world.

By raising ourselves up to a higher spiritual level, we not only protect ourselves from temptations, but we should do so in a manner that fosters shalom, whether it is between husband and wife, between neighbors and friends, between the nations of the world or finding inner peace.

Whether good or bad, and Chazal have diverse opinions on the topic, the nazir is different. In truth, everyone is unique; we are each holy individuals at the core.

I could never be a nazir. I like to drink Moscato wine on Shabbat. And even though I love long hair, it is not flattering on me so I am forced to get a trim cut from time to time.

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Concerned about what I might find when I returned home, I asked the husband of the couple who drove me home to please come with me to possibly help diffuse the situation. It never dawned on me that Hubby might think that this was the boyfriend… oops.

Despite thousands of years of exile and persecution of the Jewish people, the Tanach we have today is remarkably intact and precise and demonstrably the same text used by our ancestors thousands of years ago.

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By feeding off upstanding English citizens, Stoker’s Dracula maintains the survival of his race, just as Jews newly arrived in Great Britain sustain themselves by usurping money and wealth through devious means, leaving their victims” dry.

The wonder of the Tablets, however, is that the shattered shards which remained from the first Tablets – broken when Moshe witnessed the sin with the Golden Calf – were deemed important enough to be placed in the Aron within the Kodesh Kodshim.

The lesson of all advances in technology is – moderation. Can we learn to use it when we need it and not get addicted? This is the challenge that all of us need to conquer.

The first tablets were shattered by Moses because the Jewish people sinned with the golden calf. Meaning, they misused their need for spirituality.

The tablets were our first tangible source of information given to us by Hashem. It is where our non-separable connection began.

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Highlighting these ten commandments on tablets is not only a choice of style and semantics. It centers our faith and practice around core concepts and values.

At 8:15 AM, a booming voice at my door announced Where is Barbara? I am here, I responded from my stupor. No! My Barbara! He responded. I thought I was his Barbara.

This tome can thus serve as a study of the evolution of the Sephardic Hebrew script, so very different from those used by the Ashkenazi Jews in the nearby countries of Central Europe.

A word of caution to collectors of Bezalel: Beware of forgeries. Since prices for some Bezalel items began reaching five figures at auctions starting in the late 1990s, an entire industry of counterfeit Bezalel items has been created by the unscrupulous...

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Interestingly, by accepting the Torah, the Jewish people took on 606 new mitzvot – there were already sheva mitzvot B’nei Noach (the seven commandments that had been given to non-Jews at the time of Noah) – and the name “Ruth” in Hebrew has the numerical value of 606.

Something already touched me then; the clouds atop the hills, the winds across my face, the sun peeking between the eagle-shaped yeshiva, all contributed to a spiritual connection with Hashem, drawing me to return.

At a certain point, I realized that unless I was going to run on a treadmill, hills were inevitable.

As we approach the holiday of Shavout, it’s helpful to remember that Har Sinai was chosen because of its humility, but it was still a strong mountain.

I'm a sucker for songs that see hills and mountains as obstacles to be overcome - Still Haven't Found what I'm Looking For, Climb Every Mountain, and The Climb to name a few.

Says Elifaz to Iyov: Were you born before Adam? Were you created before the hills? (Don’t you love the ring of that?)