Holidays

Thoughts on the holy chag of Lag Ba'Omer.

Cauliflower is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with – it blends so easily into whatever dish I am preparing.

Sukkot is a universal holiday, inviting all peoples to come on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

For the Greeks, everything that was externally beautiful was good; to the Jew, everything that is inwardly good is beautiful.

Learn the Book of Ruth like you never have before and discover why it's read on Shavuot.

May we be forgiven for these and all our mistakes and sins...

Rules and guidance for the Jewish national period of mourning.

Purim is the battleground of extremes, Amalek and Yisrael, with Zoroastrian Persia in between.

Wishing all a Happy Passover!

If our teshuva is real, if we feel sincere regret and have resolved to become better, Hashem will look at us as new people.

I have wanted to tell this story for a while. There are experiences in life that help us find our soul, the candle of God within us. This was such an experience. It is a true story about the eternal flame of the Jewish soul - with a Chanukah message.

A halakhic perspective on the Exodus

The victory of the Jewish idea is celebrated on Lag B'Omer. It fits neatly between Israeli Independence Day and Yom Yerushalayim. These three days are all driven by the same spirit: the liberation of Jewish peoplehood, the return to the land, and the reemergence of authentic Jewish culture.

At this time of the year, "Jewish eyes are smiling" as we look back to our Egyptian experience of 3300 years ago and the great salvation that HaShem had brought forth for us. But on this 10th of Nisan, corresponding to the general calendar of April 2, the eyes of all enlightened nations are on Egypt, but for different reasons. The Moslem Brotherhood political party in Egypt, that now controls the two houses of the Egyptian Parliament, is going to have their man as the next president of that country. This group is among the most radical Islamists in the world, and they have an unabashed, open, straightforward Islamic agenda. Not only will they turn Egyptian society back 300 years, their end game is to uproot the Jewish State.

Hashem's reason for redeeming us from Egypt was not so that we could be free, but so that we could be free to accept the Torah at Har Sinai and service Hashem.

The Torah emphasizes the joy of Sukkot, for after a season of labor, we celebrate our prosperity.

‘What can a person do against the trend of the times!’” A question in every generation. Compromise at home is good; compromise in Torah is not. Knowing the difference will bring the final ge’ulah.

An elderly carpenter was eagerly preparing for retirement. When he informed his employer/contractor of his plans, the employer asked him if he could do him a personal favor and build one more house before he left. After so many years of working together the carpenter felt he could not refuse, and so he begrudgingly agreed. It quickly became apparent that the carpenter’s heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and he used inferior quality materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

The secret to change is to stop wishing and to start making real resolutions

So just in case you're stuck in the house this Chol HaMoed – because there's a new baby or because someone has a cold – not because of anything worse, here are six ideas for family fun at home.

Nowadays, however - thanks to artificial light - most peoples' workday or school day extends well beyond twilight during Chanukah... Must one leave work or school early to light Chanukah candles on time?

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Kabbalah teaches that mother Rachel symbolizes the Jewish People.

To explain to my children what Chanukah was like for me as a young girl, I find I am just as inclined to recount what it wasn’t as I am to describe what it was.

Dear Gary, As Pesach approaches, I get worried because I want to have a great Yom Tov, and yet, every year, the seder ends in some sort of fighting and arguing. My husband wants the seder to be all about divrei Torah and so do I, but between the younger children (who we want to be awake for the whole seder) and guests, we somehow end up in stern looks and squabbles. I'm happy we have guests or else we'd probably start yelling at each other and even Eliyahu Hanavi would bail. I know everyone jokes about how tough Pesach is, but I can't see the humor anymore – and neither can my children. What can we do to manage a calm (I don't even wish for happy) seder? A Sad Mom

Contrary to popular belief, the Talmud never explicitly limits the ban on footwear to leather shoes.

What's this Purim all about?

This year make your Judaism more than superficial-Don't accept merely "feeling" Jewish is sufficient

Only 1 mitzvah I couldn't keep in their prison: Sukkah; How could I build a Sukkah in a KGB camp!

The streets of Jerusalem on the special day commemorating the city's reunification. A celebration of youthful energy, enthusiasm, and love of the Jewish homeland....