Crying & Tisha Ba’av
This coming Wednesday night and Thursday, we observe the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, Tisha Ba’av, the 9th day of the month of Av. Let’s go back to the origin of this day marked for Jewish tragedy and suffering:…
This coming Wednesday night and Thursday, we observe the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, Tisha Ba’av, the 9th day of the month of Av. Let’s go back to the origin of this day marked for Jewish tragedy and suffering:…
In 1867, a fifteen-year-old South African boy named Erasmus Jacobs noticed an unusual stone lying near the Orange River as it made its way through his father’s farm. It was yellowish, transparent, and attractive enough that he gave it to…
Background We are in mourning. We are in the middle of the 3 weeks, a period of mourning that leads up to and includes the 9th of Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, the day that both the…
Sefiras Haomer We are almost finished the Sefiras Haomer period where we count 49 days from Pesach until Shavuos. Historically, the 49 days began right after the Exodus and ended when we received the covenant of the Torah at Sinai.…
In[1] the early 20th century, arguably the most famous economist in the world was a man named Irving Fisher[2]. Fisher was not just an economist, he was one of those rare people who seemed to turn anything into gold. His…
Why receiving the Torah was never meant to be passive Shavuos can be one of the most mysterious Yamim Tovim, holidays, in the Jewish calendar. On Pesach, the mitzvos of the day teach us how to enter the experience. We…
We live in an age obsessed with self-esteem. Life coaches, therapists, and social media personalities all assure us that we are worthy, that we matter, that we must love ourselves. Almost no one stops to ask the most important question:…
Why say Thank you? Rabbi Chaim Fink If God put us in Egypt in the first place, why should we say thank you when He finally set us free? Unbearable Agony The group already felt pushed to their limits before…