Weather and Politics There’s an old joke attributed to various Nineteenth-Century American writers that essentially says, “Lots of people talk about the weather, but they never do anything about it.” […]
Judaism 101
Sukkot is referred to in our prayers as our time of happiness. Why is this specifically our time of happiness? The Yalkut Shimoni (Emor, 654) writes that this is an […]
Who are we Fooling? Yom Kippur, the most awesome day of the year, arouses great trepidation. How do we approach this great day, a day of teshuvah (repentance) and forgiveness? […]
Torah Study in Turbulent Times In this week’s Torah reading, we are given the last mitzvah (commandment) of the Torah – to write a Torah scroll. The Chofetz Chaim points […]
Why Not Pray More for Our Needs? On the holy day of Rosh Hashanah, the greater part of our tefillah (prayer) is for the kevod Malchuto yitbarach, for the honor […]
Because You Did Not Serve Him with Happiness This week’s Torah reading warns us of terrible curses which the Jewish Nation can potentially suffer. What might one do to deserve […]
A Frightening Judgement Look around you on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur as the powerful, frightening piyut (liturgical poem) of Unetaneh Tokef is sung during the Mussaf prayer. This awe-inspiring section depicts […]
First we need the big picture. Then we probe individually. Rosh Hashana is the forest. Yom Kippur is each tree. How do our actions differ, From the goals Hashem (God) […]
Botched Plans “Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine,” has new meaning to me. We, Baruch Hashem (thank God), had a simcha (happy occasion) […]
