“Rav Yochanan said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because they followed the laws of the Torah” (Bava Metzia 30b). The Talmud is incredulous at such an…
Shavuot: An Omer of Kindness
It is the omer, a measure of barley, that unites the Biblical holidays of Pesach and Sukkot. With no calenderic date Shavuot …
Pesach: The Forest and the Trees
A legal system by its very nature is detail oriented. While laws represent the values of any given society, a law once established takes on an…
Pesach: A Trial Run
“Go out and learn what Lavan the Aramean sought to do to Yaakov, our father. Pharaoh only decreed on the males but Lavan sought to uproot everything…
Purim - We are One
One of the (many) strange features of Purim is the fact that we do not recite Hallel. “The Prophets among them established [Hallel] for the Jewish…
Chanukah: The Menorah of the Exile
Ask any child – or adult for that matter – how we celebrate Chanukah and chances are beyond pretty good that the answer will be by lighting the…
Simchat Hatorah: Moving in Circles
Holidays are a most opportune time to instill in our children the values and character traits that personify a Jewish lifestyle. At first glance…
Shabbat Chol HaMoed: a Matter of Context
When studying literature we must study not only its content, but also its form. This is especially true in the study of poetry, where the words…
Sukkot: Time to Teach
Holidays are a most opportune time to instill in our children the values and character traits that personify a Jewish lifestyle. At first glance…
Yom Kippur: a Marriage Made in Heaven
“How majestic was the kohen gadol as he left the Holy of Holies in peace, without injury…like the kindness that is placed on the bridegroom’s face…
Tisha B'Av: Constructive Hatred
One does not have to look very hard to find sources within our tradition that allow, encourage, or even demand that we “hate” others. While the…
Shavuot: A Long Weekend
This year, Shavuot falls on a Sunday. This rather unremarkable observation is of little import today; but had we been living in Temple times, or even…
Lag BaOmer: Coming Together
Lag BaOmer is a mysterious holiday. There is no mention of it in the Gemara, a fact that led the Chatam Sofer to object to the many practices of the…
Yom Ha'atzmaut: A 74 Piece Orchestra
Four, seven, ten, eighteen, forty, seventy, for Jews around the world have an immediate and reflective association(s). The four questions, seven days…
Purim: To Sing or not to Sing
Rav Soloveitchik argued that there is no independent field of Jewish philosophy. Rather, this master of Jewish philosophy—with a Ph.D. in neo-Kantian…
Tu Bishvat: Winter Warmth
I write these words as I sit looking out the window at the absolutely beautiful snow that adorns our streets, homes, trees and all else outdoors. If…
Shemini Atzeret: Three is Not a Crowd
Unlike our other holidays, the holiday of Sukkot does not celebrate a particular historical event at a particular moment in time. Rather it…
Shabbat Chol HaMoed: A Long Journey
It is hard to imagine a more impactful ritual than that of our weekly Torah reading. While its origins date to Moshe Rabbeinu—acting in his capacity…