The Three Weeks 5777
The Three Weeks We are in the period of the Jewish year called The Three Weeks. The three weeks are a reference to the three weeks that start with the fast of the seventeenth day of Tamuz, Shiva Assar Be-Tamuz,…
The Ten Days of Teshuva 5778
The Ten Days of Teshuva The ten days beginning with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur are called עשרת ימי תשובה The Ten Days of Teshuva. These special days are a gift from Hashem to help us secure a good judgement for the new year.…
Succot 5778
Succot The Tur (written by R. Jacob ben Asher 1269-1343) notes in the name of his brother that the three festivals, Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, correspond to our three forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov: Passover corresponds to Avraham because the…
Shabbat Hagadol 5778
Shabbat Hagadol The Shabbat before Pesach is called “שבת הגדול “ The Great Shabbat. What happened on the Shabbat before Pesach that caused it to go down in history forever as The Great Shabbat? The Jewish people left Egypt on…
Sefirat Haomer 5778
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 5778
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 Hashana 5778
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 Hashana 5778
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
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 5778
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…