31 Dec IS THE SHAMASH OUTDATED?
The Chanukah menorah has eight lights for the eight days of the holiday. There is a ninth light, the shamash, which is not an actual Chanukah light. A box of Chanukah candles usually contains 44 candles so you...
24 Dec THE MIXED-UP BRACHA ON CHANUKAH LIGHTS
I. Reasons to Deviate Rav Yosef Karo (16th cen., Israel; Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 676:1) says that the first blessing on Chanukah lights is: “le-hadlik ner Chanukah, to kindle Chanukah light.” Many have noted how puzzling this is because the...
17 Dec GIVING TZEDAKAH TO UNVERIFIED COLLECTORS
I. Obligations to Give Giving charity, sup- porting those in need, is a great mitzvah. It is important not only in order to help those who need financial assistance but also to create a giving character, which is...
03 Dec MECHUTANIM IN HALACHAH
I. Fathers-in-Law There is a deep lesson in the fact that there is no English equivalent of the word “mechutanim.” Mechutanim are the parents of your son- or daughter-in-law (mechutan is the male part of the mechutanim). When your...
25 Nov GIVING THANKS FOR ELECTION OUTCOMES
I. Thank You Hashem We recognize and thank G-d for the blessings we receive in this world, sometimes in formal ways with a blessing and other times informally. In a modern democracy, sometimes elections can turn the tide...
19 Nov THE PROBLEM OF STANDING FOR THE TORAH READING
We stand up for a Torah scroll when it is removed from the ark or moved from place to place. Doing so is a sign of respect for the divine word inscribed on its parchment. Do we...
12 Nov IS CAPITALISM KOSHER?
I. Self-Interest and Capitalism The theoretical basis for the economic system of Capitalism is self-interest, another term for greed. Those who devalue greed, who view the accumulation of wealth as a vice, necessarily see Capitalism as a system based...
05 Nov WHO MAY FINISH A TORAH SCROLL?
I. A Gentile Writing a Letter in a Scroll? On October 7, 2024, Senator Lindsey Graham visited the Western Wall and filled in a letter in a new Torah scroll written in memory of the victims of...
29 Oct GRANDFATHERS IN JUDAISM
I. Teaching Torah G r a n d p a r e n t s fulfill a unique mitzvah by teaching their descendants Torah. The Gemara (Kiddushin 30a) offers someone named Zevulun ben Dan as an example of the...
14 Oct JUDAISM’S BALANCE OF ITS FINANCIAL BURDEN
On the one hand, never before have Jews been as prosperous as they are now. Both the vast majority of individuals and the community in general are currently blessed with wealth well beyond what we have experienced in...