Confounding Criticism In this week’s Torah reading, Yitro (Jethro), the father-in-law of Moshe (Moses), joins the Jews in the desert. The following day, after Yitro enters the camp of the […]
Judaism 101
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz I heard that we are supposed to taste the Shabbat food before Shabbat. What is the reason for this, and does the Rabbi […]
Jealousy in the Torah לֹא תַחְמֹד בֵּית רֵעֶךָ לֹא תַחְמֹד אֵשֶׁת רֵעֶךָ וְעַבְדּוֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ וְשׁוֹרוֹ וַחֲמֹרוֹ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר לְרֵעֶךָ Do not covet your fellow’s house. Do not covet your fellow’s wife, or his servant […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz I often perform mitzvot (Torah commandments) without much thought or meaning, like I’m just going through the motions. Do such mitzvot still count? […]
Chesed Shel Emet – Kindness to the Dead In the beginning of this week’s Torah reading, Yaakov (Jacob) summoned his son Yosef (Joseph) and requested of him to do “kindness […]
< Lesson 17: Dessert and Cleanup – Muktzah, Borer, and More Lesson 18: How to Make Havdalah Introduction to the Havdalah Service Welcome to Lesson 18: How to Make Havdalah. […]
Of Thanks and Praise On Chanukah, we add a special prayer to the regular prayers and to Birchat Hamazon (Grace after meals) – the prayer of Al Hanisim. The Al […]
Yellow Light, Red Light, 1-2-3 It was a typical, busy day, and I was driving back from some errands. Thankfully, the line at the bank wasn’t too long, and I […]
And Sit There The verse in this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Vayishlach, says (35:1), “And God said to Yaakov (Jacob), “Get up and go up to Beit-El and sit there, […]
Avraham’s Search for a Burial Plot In this week’s Torah reading, Avraham (Abraham) was searching for a suitable burial plot for his deceased wife, Sara. He took interest in a plot […]