What bracha do you make on donuts? There is a custom, a minhag, that many people have to eat donuts, sufganiyot, on Chanukah. Somehow, the donuts keep on expanding. They keep on expanding in size. They keep on expanding in...
We read in Parashat Vayeshev of the hatred that Yosef’s brothers felt toward him. The background to their hatred is the special love shown to Yosef by their father, Yaakob, who made him a special garment (“Ketonet Pasim”...
“V’lo zochar sar hamashkim es Yosef, va’yishkocheihu, And the chief wine butler didn’t remember Yosef, and he forgot him” (Bereishis 40:23) The closing words of last week’s parsha, Vayeishev. Words that seem redundant. Didn’t remember...
The Judah-Tamar Drama It is a fascinating story: Judah has three sons, Er, Onan and Shalah. His oldest son, Er, married a woman named Tamar, but died prematurely, without children. His bereft father, Judah, suggested to his second son,...
Please tell everyone a little bit about yourself: Your age, your family, your job etc. I’m 61 years old. I live in West Hempstead and daven at Congregation Eitz Chaim of Dogwood Park under...
Fill in the blank: Galus will end when _________________ When all Yidden love each other and they are B’Agudah Achas that’s what the Midrash Tanchuma tells us What is your most prized sefer? A...
As we all know, we use olive oil to light the Chanukah menorah. Recently, olive oil has become very popular for its health benefits. Olive oil has many other uses as well (see below). In previous years, its...
I. Davening for a Soldier We daven for a time when there will be no more war. We also daven that until that time arrives, our soldiers return from the battlefield to their families and their lives. Is...
Parashat Vayeshev tells the story of Yosef, who was sold as a slave by his brothers, and brought down to Egypt. He became the slave of an Egyptian nobleman named Potifar, and within a very short period...
G-d Measures Out Punishment — Exactly The Torah tells us that when Yosef’s brothers were about to sell him, they lifted their eyes and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites carrying spices to Egypt [Bereishis 37:25]. Rash”i points out that...