Sukkot 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…
Just five miles east of the I-75 is the medieval era. Get off the highway, pass through a generic town or two, drive through some cornfields, and make a left turn into the 1500’s. It’s not always there, only at…
Yom Kippur During the course of the year when we twice daily say the Shema, the second verse, ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד (Baruch shem ..) Blessed forever is Hashem’s Honorable Name, is said silently. On Yom Kippur, however,…
Much of the information in this article was gleaned from an article by PBS Health on May 15, 2015 Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis may go down in history as the most frustrated and frustrating doctor in history, but he certainly will…
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 (Repentance). These special days are a gift from Hashem to help us secure…
We do like our gyms, us Americans. With about 36,450 gyms spread out across the fifty states, there are more gyms in the USA than McDonalds, Wendy’s and Burger Kings combined! Bringing in over $27 billion a year, the gym,…
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…
Rosh Hashanah Part I The 1st day of the month of Tishrei is Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment. Why on this day did Hashem decide to judge the world? We celebrate Passover on the 15th of Nissan because it…
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…
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…