When I was twelve years old, there was nothing I enjoyed more than going to the Shuk Machane Yehuda. The massive indoor/outdoor market in Jerusalem was an assault of sights, sounds, and smells coming from the garbled masses of people…
Tazriah – Metzorah תשפג This coming Shabbat, two portions will be read in Shul. The main topic of these two portions is the “metzorah,” one who is stricken with the malady -צרעת “tzaraat” (or tzaraas). The usual translation of tzaraat is leprosy, a translation that…
Shabbat eve, the 15th day of the month of Adar (March 18, 2022), Rabbi Chayim Kanievsky זצ"ל, the world’s holiest Torah sage, returned his soul to his Maker. The loss of this Torah giant constitutes a massive, immeasurable blow to…
Shabbat eve, the 15th day of the month of Adar (March 18, 2022), Rabbi Chayim Kanievsky זצ"ל, the world’s holiest Torah sage, returned his soul to his Maker. The loss of this Torah giant constitutes a massive, immeasurable blow to…
If you live near a large metropolitan area, you’ve probably seen this phenomenon. It probably scratched your brain for a few seconds, but you had no explanation for it, and then you got distracted by the car swerving ahead of…
Tazriah - Metzorah תשפא This week’s Torah portions are replete with references to the concepts of טומאה - tumah and טהרה – tahara, what we call “spiritually unclean and spiritually clean.” These concepts have no parallel in the secular world,…
We are living through paradoxical times. On the one hand, Baruch Hashem, we have plenty. Supermarkets are stocked with food, our dinner table still has a collage of colors, Amazon is still dropping off packages almost daily. Our homes are…
Tazriah – Metzorah תשפ This coming Shabbat, two portions will be read in Shul (that is, if there were services). The main topic of these two portions is the “metzorah,” one who was stricken with the malady -צרעת “tzaraat” (or…