Moshe Rabbeinu was our teacher par excellence. As a great pedagogue, he understood the importance of teaching subject material in a timely manner. “…
Pesach: Don't Forget Yosef
The eating of karpas has long baffled our commentators. Why exactly do we dip a vegetable in salt water just as we are ready to begin the…
Parshat Hachodesh: Timing is Everything
“In the first month of the second year on the first of the month, the Tabernacle was erected” (Shemot 40:2). Sefer Shemot concludes with…
Purim: Shaping Jewish History
Rare is the person who has the opportunity to knowingly shape the course of Jewish history. Most are happy to be relieved of that responsibility.…
Parshat Zachor: Defeating Evil
"He shall surely be put to death." "They shall be pelted with stones and thus stoned to death." "He shall be burned with fire." "His soul shall be…
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 […
Asara b'Tevet and Christmas
For better or worse, in the minds of many—Jew and non-Jew alike—Chanukah and Christmas are two sides of a similar, if not the same, coin. Chanukah is…
Chanukah: Clothes Make the Man
There is no more powerful symbol than light in our tradition. It is how we usher in the Shabbat, march down the wedding aisle, mark the yahrzeit of a…
Chanukah: Back to the Future
Mai Chanukah? What is Chanukah? the Talmud (Shabbat 21ba) queries, a question we find with respect to no other holiday. The Talmud explains that…
Shmini Atzeret: A Dual Holiday
The Jewish holidays have two distinct themes. The shalosh regalim, three pilgrim festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, occurring at key…
Sukkot: Leading by Example
For many years, students were introduced to the study of Talmud with Eilu Metziot, the second chapter of masechet Bava Metzia, focusing on the…
Sukkot: A Very Open Sukkah
For seven days a year, one is to “make his home temporary and his Sukkah permanent”. Ideally, we move our finest furniture, china, and…
The Sukkah of Yom Kippur
As important (if not more so) as what one says is how it is said, when it is said, and what is not said. This is equally true regarding both our…
Yom Kippur: Long Term Planning
“We work and get reward and they work and do not get reward?” This statement, said when one completes a Talmudic tractate, articulates a…
Aseret Yemi Teshuva: The Freedom to Choose
“In a place where ba’alei teshuva stand there, not even the fully righteous can stand” (Brachot 34b). This teaching is generally…
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,…
Tu B'Av: Breaking the Glass
One of the best-known wedding customs is the breaking of a glass during the chuppah. The common explanation given for this custom is that it serves…