Rosh Hashanah Part II

Rosh Hashanah Part II The Men of the Great Assembly, אנשי כנסת הגדולה , composed the prayers in the סדור, Siddur, the Jewish prayer book . This esteemed assemblage comprised 120 holy rabbis, many of whom were also prophets. As…

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Elul 5578

The Month of Elul Rosh Hashanah, which falls on the 1st day of the month of Tishrei (this year, Sunday night, September 9th), marks the beginning of the new year 5779. This counts the years since the world’s creation, which…

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Parshat Shoftim 5778

Parshat Shoftim תשע"ח If statistics are correct, Jews comprise .02% of the world’s population. There are over 2.5 billion Christians, almost 2 billion Muslims, billions more people in many other religions, including non-believers. The Torah instructs us to follow the…

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Parshat Reeh 5778

Parshat Reeh  This week’s portion discloses the secret to becoming wealthy. (This is the oldest get rich scheme in the book!) The verse says: ספר דברים פרק יד כב) עַשֵּׂר תְּעַשֵּׂר אֵת כָּל תְּבוּאַת זַרְעֶךָ הַיֹּצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה שָׁנָה שָׁנָה 22)…

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Parshat Eikev 5778

Parshat Eikev                 In this week’s portion we come to the only ברכה  - blessing mandated by the Torah according to all opinions. This blessing is the ברכת המזון - Birkat Hamazon, the Grace after meals. It is derived from…

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Parshat Vaetchanan 5778

Parshat Vaetchanan                 This week’s portion, ואתחנן  - Vaetchanan, which means “and I implored,” seems to begin in the middle of nowhere. Following the description in the end of the previous portion of how the Jewish people decimated the two…

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Tisha B’Av 5778

Tisha B’Av Napoleon once passed a shul in Paris on Tisha B’Av. Hearing crying and wailing coming from inside and thinking that there was something terrible going on, he stepped inside to see what he could do to help. What…

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Parshat Matot-Masei 5778

Parshat Matot – Masei תשע"ח                 In this week’s double portion, (depending on the year and on what days the holidays fall out, sometimes two weekly portions are read together) Hashem charges Moshe with his final task: retaliation against the…

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