Holidays

Fascinating insights into Yom Kippur

All of our good deeds should be rooted in this truth that Hashem commanded us and that is why we are doing the mitzvos.

Rosh Hashanah is a seemingly a "deprived holiday." Almost nothing is written about this festival in the Torah, certainly less than about any other festival. Even the shofar is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah in the context of Rosh Hashanah. All that is mentioned is that Rosh Hashana is Yom Teruah - “a day of blasting”, or Zichron Teruah - “a remembrance of blasting”, but nothing more.

May you all have a very Good Shabbos, a Kesiva V’chasima Tova

The Maharil explains that the custom of Tashlich – like many other Rosh Hashanah minhagim – is intended to evoke G-d’s mercy by recalling Akeidat Yitzchak.

Six events occurred on Tu B'Av, the 15th of Av, making it a festive day in the Jewish calendar.

Dare I say that, the fact that we keep the Temple alive 2000 years after its destruction, continue to connect to God even after the Holocaust, and we pray even on this horrible day, INSPIRES God?

In the City of David, the place where Jerusalem began, the evidence of those periods and their tragic end are being revealed, bringing to light all that was lost and the incredible endeavors to reveal and rebuild our beloved and eternal capital.

Here is a short message as we head towards Tisha B'Av and will be marked in strange and difficult circumstances because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

We are taught that only a cry accompanied by joy in our ability to cry to God can open our restraints; The cry must itself be an expression of restrained joy

How is it that Rachel’s tears evoke such a powerful response from God? If we can make sense of this passage, it may be able to shed light on our process of mourning on Tisha B’Av, and help our tears and grief become a catalyst for action.

May we soon celebrate together at a rebuilt Beit HaMikdash.

I daven that this will be the last Shavuos we will be forced to be socially distant from each other. Missing you all and pining to get back home.

Chag Sameach!

Ari talks about the holidays of Shavuot and Yom Kippur, the Shofar that connects the two holidays, and the indigenous people of the Land of Israel.

Our mission is to make this Shavuos the next step in our evolutionary spiral through time. We must not only re-accept what we have already accepted, we must take it to the next level,

Numbers don't tell the full the story

This year more than ever, the spiritual teachings of Lag B’Omer and unity take on a new relevance when the physical health of our community depends on each other as well. As we dance together but apart this Lag B’Omer

When people asked Rav Goren why he recited Shehecheyanu, he replied with typical sarcasm: "Don't worry, I have a new tie."

As sundown falls on the holiday of Passover, Sephardic Jews everywhere will celebrate the centuries-old tradition of Mimouna—but this year, things won’t be the same.

I polled my kids to find out what stood out in their minds, hoping that their recollections went beyond a cranky mommy who wasn’t always at her best.

Can you count to "49"?

The sign above the doorpost

The Seder celebrates freedom by emphasizing ideas I am not sure we remember, chief among them some unusually relevant this year

Next Year in the rebuilt JerUSAlem

.

Insights for the seder

I’ll miss my mother’s cooking and my dad’s historical commentary that accompanies reading the Haggadah at the seders.

.

Questions and answers with Rav Hershel Schachter shlit”a, regarding situations arising from the coronavirus crisis. Transcribed by Rabbi Pini Dunner (assisted by Michael Bernstein). This transcript has been approved by Rav Hershel...