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May 25, 2013 /16 Sivan, 5773
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The Tosfos Yomtov was convinced that the death of 300,000 –600,000 Jews during the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-49 were because of improper Tefila. Communicated: Tefilla

Chillul Tefila Bifarhesia, as well as halachicly challenged verbiage and dress, are external manifestations of a critical lack of personal yiras shomayim which has lethal consequences.



Purim In Hong Kong


Latest update: September 11th, 2012
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While Esther and Mordechai might fail to make an appearance at Ohel Leah this year, our contemporary costumes reflect our experience, our adaptability and creativity as a people, as well as the ease of availability of costumes in Hong Kong. I walk inside and up the stairs to the women’s gallery where I make my way through the crowd to take in the scene from the most advantageous point. As the blessings are recited, I scan the boisterous crowd for my own children, hats already askew and costumes stained and sticky from the sweets in their hands. I wonder if this is a story they will tell and retell to their own children.

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  1. Susan Blumberg-Kason says:
    March 26, 2012 at 3:13 PM

    I love this! It brings back my own Purim memories in the US, where my dad made me a towering princes hat that I struggled to keep on each year. I'm so relieved to hear that the Disney princess phase peters out by age 7. Phew!

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Our Jewish world is small but from his five-year-old perspective it is large, perhaps all-encompassing. The fact that in a population of over 7 million people in Hong Kong (95% of whom are ethnically Chinese) we as Jews collectively account for only about 4,000 or 0.05% of the population can be seemingly irrelevant. Large numbers and statistics don’t play into his worldview.

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