05 Oct THE GREAT TRAIT OF GENTLENESS
In the entirety of Scripture, there aren’t many people who have been given so many accolades by Hashem as Noach. The Torah waxes reverently about Noach’s character. It extols him...
14 Sep A LASTING SUKKOS MESSAGE
We are taught that, “Mo-adim l’simcha, chagim u’zmanim ul’sason – Festivals towards (promoting) joy, holidays and times for (promoting) exaltation.” Rav Shamshon Rafoel Hirsch asks why doesn’t it say, “Mo-adei...
05 Sep CHARITY – ARE WE GIVING ENOUGH?
One of the most urgent segments of our Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur liturgy is the proclamation we say with great feeling, “Us’shuvah us’filah u’tzedakah ma-avirin es ro-ah hagizeirah –...
31 Aug THE GATEWAYS OF OUR HEAD – PART THREE
In last week’s article, we were discussing the proper usage of our ears. One of the wonderful things we can do with our ears is to allow a troubled person...
24 Aug THE GATEWAYS OF OUR HEAD – PART TWO
Last week, we spoke about how one should work on controlling the seven gateways of the head: the two eyes, two ears, the two nostrils and the mouth. In the...
17 Aug THE GATEWAYS OF OUR HEAD – PART ONE
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we chant slowly the venerable psalm, L’Dovid Mizmor. The saying of this psalm is considered a big segula for parnassa, for one’s livelihood. In...
10 Aug AN ELUL PRIMER
The month of Elul is upon us with all of its seriousness and high stakes. First of all, it is the last month of the year and in Yiddishkeit this...
03 Aug WOW! ELUL IS HERE!
Believe it or not, Elul is upon us! How do we juggle the seriousness, gravity and trepidation of Elul with the lazy days of summer? How can we relax and...
27 Jul THE LITMUS TEST OF ONE’S YIRAS SHAMAYIM
The posuk in Mishlei states, “K’kesef l’matzreif vk’cur l’zahav, ish k’fi mehalalo – Like silver in the refinery and gold in the crucible, so is a man according to his...
21 Jul OUR LOVE OF HASHEM – IN THE SHEMA
In our daily Krias Shema, we say, “V’ahvata es Hashem Elokecha – And you should love Hashem Your Go-d.” Both the Rokei’ach and the Baal HaTurim reveal that the word v’ahavta is an anagram of ha’Avos, our Patriarchs, referring to Avraham,...