Tag: mitzvot

Jonathan, who once wondered how he would ever get his son close to Hashem, now knows he wasn’t the only one who wanted it. Hashem had an interest in it as well, and made it all come together.

Those who are subjected to emotional suffering tend to be kept out of society's line of sight. All the more so when society is either the cause of the suffering or can alleviate it and does not do so.

Question: Should a person try to observe mitzvot he is technically exempt from performing?

Question: Are there limitations to the mitzvah of chinuch?

Question: Are there limitations to the mitzvah of chinuch?

Question: Are there limits to the mitzvah of chinuch?

“Women are obligated to participate in kindling the Chanukah lights,” instructs the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, a nineteenth century commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, the basic Jewish legal text. And, surprisingly, even more: “A woman can light the candles for all the members of her family.”

For the past few weeks I have been writing about the crisis our Jewish community is witnessing, a crisis reminiscent of pre-Holocaust Europe that caught the Jewish community sleeping and unawares.

Question: Is a pious Jew allowed to desire the forbidden (as long, of course, as he doesn’t act on the desire)?

It is difficult to remember the last time the United States was wracked with such dissension, discontent, protests, and economic hardship.

Nowadays, Jewish parents and educators must ask themselves how they can present Torah and mitzvot in a way that speaks to this generation. To many youth today, Judaism’s rich heritage seems outdated, irrelevant and boring.

The recent appalling murders in Itamar shocked everyone - not just settlers but every Jew without exception, because it wasn't the Fogel family alone whom the enemy wished to murder, but rather each and every one of us.

As an Orthodox rabbi living and working on Manhattan's Upper West Side, I'm thrilled to see so many single men and women actively involved in Torah and mitzvot. This is also the case in Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island, and wherever else singles are found. Whereas in the not so distant past the observance level of many Orthodox singles dropped the longer they remained single, today there are more scrupulously observant single men and women than ever before.

QUESTION: I have a few questions regarding the Jewish leap year. Why do we always add a second Adar as opposed to adding a second Tevet or Iyar for example? Why do we call it Adar Alef? Why is Purim celebrated in the second Adar? And which Adar is the real Adar?Shea Aronovitch(Via E-Mail)

QUESTION: I have a few questions regarding the Jewish leap year. Why do we always add a second Adar as opposed to adding a second Tevet or Iyar for example? Why do we call it Adar Alef? Why is Purim celebrated in the second Adar? And which Adar is the real Adar?Shea Aronovitch(Via E-Mail)

I once asked my parents why they had named me Chana Malka, and they responded: "We didn't, the rabbis named you." For the longest time, I chose to be content with that answer, but then again, for the longest time I chose to be content with my assumed religious identity, and never felt the need to examine either subject too closely. I am the daughter of two loving parents, a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father.

Since the 1960s, Our Way, a program of the Orthodox Union, has been establishing initiatives on behalf of Jewish deaf throughout North America. Participants...

While Shylock, in Shakespeare's play, might have used the plural as a rhetorical device, his words speak to a greater truth about community and nation. When we look at a country and wonder why it behaves in the way it does - with charity, belligerence, etc. - we are seeing an entity functioning as an individual might, often driven by the same emotions, ethics and sense of justice.

In my previous column I noted how the great sage Hillel, when asked to teach the entire Torah in the time it took for a man to stand on one leg, stated without hesitation that people should not do to others what they wouldn't want done to them - and that the rest was commentary on that point.

As Jews in Israel and all over the world prepare to celebrate Shavuot, it is incumbent upon us to take the time to reflect on the meaning of our traditional values and history with regard to our current challenges and goals.

Judaism is meticulous about the manner in which it celebrates Festivals. We eat matzah on Pesach because it recalls the suddenness of the Exodus that happened so quickly there was no time for the dough to rise. On Sukkot, we leave our homes and establish residence in a sukkah to remember, "In sukkot did I house the children of Israel when I took them out of Egypt."

This short essay will develop five critical points for responding to the voices within the broader community that seek to accept and legitimize homosexual conduct, an activity that directly contradicts the dictates of halacha.

A few months ago, football's New York Jets willingly accommodated Jewish fans by moving their home opener from the evening to the early afternoon of the same day. That evening - Yom Kippur - would have presumably found thousands of the Jets faithful in synagogue and not at the Meadowlands or glued to their television sets.

An easy-to-hold hardcover with colorful illustrations, We Can Do Mitzvos from Aleph to Tav explains basic mitzvot in rhyme and alphabetical order. Easy on the eyes and a pleasant text for introducing toddlers to the world of shmirat halacha, the book teaches the aleph bet with charm.

As Super Bowl weekend approaches the signs at the local takeout stores in Modern Orthodox neighborhoods (and even some haredi ones as well, but I limit my discussion here to the former as that is my community) abound with signs advertising gigantic food package options with catchy names such as the "Linebacker" or the "Halftimer."

The recent arrests of several New Jersey rabbis, coming on the heels of a variety of other scandals in Jewish life that also resulted in prominent arrests, have led many to conclude that Orthodoxy is in crisis and its entire worldview under siege and perhaps unsustainable.

He put on tefillin every day. He was rarely absent from shul. He ate only kosher. But during the busy season in the garment industry, this Bronx Jew who grew up in the first half of the 20th century worked on Shabbat. Can such a person be considered an Orthodox Jew?

Shalom Hammer is certainly an accomplished educator; he teaches adults and children at the same time with The Family Parsha Book.

When things get bad, I must remember that thousands of people in Israel are doing wonderful mitzvot daily, and we cannot become discouraged.

I recently wrote an article about older adults who are single (either widowed or divorced) and who have grown children with their own young families.