09 Oct Is Anger Good?
I. ANGER IS BAD Anger is a destructive force. It does not just cloud judgment, which would imply reliance on instinct. Anger overwhelms judgment, taking you in directions to which your...
Shabbos Times for Mar 14, 2025 | 14 Adar, 5785 | Parshas Ki Sisa | Candle Lighting Time: 6:43 PM | Havdalah (72 min): 8:13 PM
03 Oct Appointing a Past Sinner
Can a ba’al teshuvah, someone who grew up non-observant, be appointed to a communal position, such as a pulpit rabbi? In the old days, the rabbi’s job was simply to...
25 Sep Koheles & Political Struggle
Who wrote Koheles, the biblical book of Ecclesiastes? The traditional answer to the question of Koheles’ authorship is Shlomo Ha-Melekh, King Solomon, who according to tradition wrote Shir Ha-Shirim, Koheles...
19 Sep Who Pays for the Esrog?
We live in times of plenty, in a where the basic standard of living would have been considered a mere few decades ago to be a life of wealth and...
12 Sep Does Teshuvah Work?
I. TESHUVAH AND NINEVEH Conventional wisdom has it that the book of Yonah is about power of teshuvah, repentance. But if that is the case, why is teshuvah barely mentioned? Of...
05 Sep Is Kavanah Necessary?
We reach out to G-d with prayer. But when we say the same thing three times a day, it is hard to mean every word. For some of us, the...
28 Aug Are Bar Mitzvah Invitations Kosher?
In a responsum about bas mitzvah celebrations, Rav Ovadiah Yosef quotes an authority who raises questions about bar mitzvah invitations. In Yechaveh Da’as (2:29), Rav Yosef quotes Rav Avraham Musafya who says that the practice in...
21 Aug Swear to G-d
Jews are averse to swearing–taking oaths–for two reasons. One is the severity of the prohibition against violating an oath. Another is the prohibition, listed among the so-called Ten Commandments, against using G-d’s name...
14 Aug A Little Bit Mukzeh
We are not allowed to move on Shabbos an object that is muktzeh, except under specific circumstances. For example, a utensil used for a forbidden purpose (like scissors) can only...
07 Aug Everyone Does It
I. IGNORANCE OF THE LAW “Everyone does it” is never an excuse. It does not constitute a legal or religious exemption from consequences. While Jewish law does indeed treat ignorant or...