The haunting, powerful and frightening words of Untenah Tokef – who shall live and who shall die – is for many the emotional highlight of the High…
Rosh Hashanah: Come Together
“Ubechen, Please G-d instill pachdecha, terror upon all Your works and eimatecha, Your dread upon all that You have created”. So begins the Amidah on…
Rosh Hashanah: Sounding the Shofar
The blowing of the shofar is a most enigmatic mitzvah. The reasons we eat matzah, sit in the Sukkah or take the lulav are readily apparent; they…
Some Reflections on the year 2020
“Ezra enacted for the Jewish people that they should read the curses that are recorded in Vayikra before Shavuot and […
Rosh Hashanah: Time for Change
Man has a tremendous capacity for self-deception. We easily see faults in others; somehow, we miss them in ourselves. Teshuva, repentance,…
Some Thoughts on This Year's Yamim Noraim
The Yamim Noraim of the year 70 must have been quite traumatic. The Temple had been destroyed less than two months earlier and thousands lay dead,…
Rosh Hashanah: Early, Late or Just Right
"And on the seventh month on the first day of the month, it shall be a day of rest. It is a sacred day for remembrance and blowing" (Vayikra 23:24). …
Rosh Hashanah: Time for Prayer
Rosh Hashanah is first and foremost a day of prayer. Prayer, as Rav Soloveitchik often noted, is rooted in asking G-d to fulfil our needs. One who is…
Rosh Hashanah: A Redemptive Moment
One of the strengths of the Jewish people is our ability to focus on the future. What we do tomorrow is more important than we did yesterday. The…
Rosh Hashanah: A Great Gift!
Teshuva tefillah, utzedkaha ma’aveerim et roah hagezeirah - repentance, prayer and tzedakah remove the evil of the decree. Prayer is a great…
Rosh Hashanah: Do I Need to Pray?
"On Rosh Hashanah, we read 'on the seventh month on the first day', and the maftir reads, 'is not Ephraim my…
Rosh Hashanah: A Matter of Time
Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the new year. But strangely, it does not mark the end of the old year. That task belongs to the holiday of…
Rosh Hashanah: Time to Remember
David, Karen, and Beca Bookman wish their parents, families, friends, and the Or Chaim Minyan a Happy and Healthy Shana Tova, and a Shana Tova to…
Rosh Hashanah: From Fear to Hope
Rosh Hashanah celebrates the coronation of G-d as King of the universe. And having G-d as our King is worthy of celebration. Rosh Hashanah is…
Rosh Hashanah: The Right Focus
“On Rosh Hashanah, it is written; and on Yom Kippur, it is sealed, who shall live and who shall die…” (Machzor). It is doubtful…