Our society worships greatness. Whether it be athletes, rock stars, actors or successful business leaders, they are showered with wealth and…
Aseret Yemi Teshuva: I Confess
Integral to the teshuva process is the act of vidui, confession. One can intellectually know one has done something wrong; one can even feel…
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).…
Tu BAv: Coming Together
One of the lessons Nehama Leibowitz, z”l, drilled into us during the time I was fortunate to study with her was that if Rashi has two…
Shavuot: A Forced Torah?
Our attitude towards Torah is a most fickle one. On the one hand, the Jewish people demonstrated great faith in following Moshe into a barren…
Yom Haatzmaut: Thoughts at Seventy-One
The period of sefirat haomer has undergone great transformation over the ages. In the Torah itself, it links the korban haomer …
Last Day(s) of Pesach: Reach for the Top
As we all know too well, there is often a gap between the ideal and reality. In trying to implement our goals, we all too often fall prey to conflict…
Pesach: Have You Left Egypt?
“In each and every generation, one must see oneself as if they had left Egypt”. In Judaism, we not only commemorate the past, we…
Purim: Ignoring G-d!
Purim celebrates the eternity of the Jewish people. Despite exile and dispersion, genocidal enemies and those willing to turn a blind eye to such,…
Chanukah: A Special Nation
One of the painful realities of Jewish life is that the Jewish people are often judged by a double standard. What in other cultures is done with…
Sukkot: The Beauty of the Etrog
Judaism is not oblivious to the power and even importance of physical beauty. Phrases such as yefat tohar v’yefot ma’areh, loosely…
Yom Kippur: Welcoming the Evil Inclination
“For the sin that we sinned before you with the evil inclination”. The double alphabetic acrostic of the al chet lists a…
Let's Listen To Some Lashon Hara
“Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: the majority [of people sin] regarding theft, a minority regarding adultery, and all with lashon hara…
Shavuot: Eating Out
How should one celebrate the receiving of the Torah? The Talmud (Pesachim 68b) quotes a seemingly strange argument as to how to properly celebrate…
Lag B'Omer: Opposites Attract
It is hard to imagine two people who had a greater influence on the development of Judaism during the dark period of Roman persecution than Rabbi…
Yom Ha'atzmaut: Turning Seventy
“And Yaakov worked for Rachel for seven years, and they appeared in his eyes like just a few because of his love for her” (Breisheet 29:…
Pesach: Preparing to Eat
Twice a year, on Yom Kippur and at the Pesach seder, we conclude with the prayer L’shanna haba’ah b’Yerushalayim. It is…
Purim: Where is Haman?
"Where is Haman recorded in the Torah?" So asks the Talmud (Chulin 139b), in a seemingly incomprehensible question. Surely one would…