Sefirat Haomer – The Counting of the Omer When the Holy Temple stood, a daily sacrifice was brought every morning and evening. Our current morning prayer, שחרית - Shacharit, corresponds to, and substitutes for, that morning sacrifice, and מנחה -…
Sefirat Haomer ll The שולחן ערוך - Code of Jewish Law, teaches us of a custom not to get married from Pesach until the 33rd day of the Omer, for during these 33 days Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students died. We…
Rosh Hashanah The first day of the month of Tishrei, is Rosh Hashanah, The Day of Judgment. What is it about the first day of Tishrei that makes it the day that Hashem has decided to judge the world? Passover…
Rosh Hashanah II The prayers in the סדור , Siddur, the Jewish prayer book, were composed by the Men of the Great Assembly, the אנשי כנסת הגדולה . This esteemed assemblage, was comprised of 120 holy Rabbis many of whom…
Purim 5779 Pesach is the holiday on which we celebrate the open miracles that Hashem did for the Jewish people in Egypt to take them from slavery to freedom. Purim, on the other hand, is when we celebrate Hashem’s hidden…
Pesach The Festival of Pesach is, by far, the most celebrated holiday in the Jewish calendar. In terms of popularity, it trumps even Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the “High Holidays.” The theme of freedom that we celebrate on Pesach…
Parshat Yitro The Jewish people left Egypt on a Thursday, the 15th of Nissan. Seven days later they miraculously passed through the Reed Sea. From there they embarked on a 45-day trek to Mount Sinai, where they would forge the…
Parshat Vayishlach Our world has come to realize that we most successfully educate our children by example, not speeches. We can instruct our children from morning till night not to smoke, but if we ourselves smoke, it will be futile.…
Parshat Vayigash By way of background, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had two consecutive baffling dreams, which even his wise men could not satisfactorily interpret. Pharaoh’s butler then recalled having two years earlier been in prison with Yosef, who had…
Parshat Vayeitzei After Esav vowed to kill his brother Yaakov for having taken their father Yitzchak’s blessing, Rivka and Yitzchak both decided to send Yaakov to Rivka’s brother, Lavan, to escape Esav’s wrath, and to find a wife. On the…