Chol Hamoed Sukkot is a cherished family time, often prompting people to plan trips and outings since children are off school, and parents are off work. However, a common question arises regarding where to go, as finding a sukkah for...
Our time in this world is limited. We strive to do all the good we can and avoid doing wrong. When we sometimes misstep, we try to do teshuvah and atone for our misdeeds. The time for doing...
The Gemara tells us that after one’s demise, he will be asked, “Did you wait for the salvation (for Moshiach)?” The Imrei Emes of Gur zt’l said that the question also means, “Did you wait for Hoshnah Rabbah,...
Dear Rabbi & Shira I’m a Baalas Teshuva struggling to find “the one.” Many people won’t date me because of my family background. The ones that do date me, I find go...
Dear Shira and Rabbi, When I graduated high school I said to myself and my parents that I did not want to date right away. I wanted to wait until I...
ONION SOUP DIRECTIONS: This onion soup is so easy to make and delicious to eat in the Sukkah. Slice six large Vidalia sweet onions and add them to your soup pot with a...
USHPIZIN – Aramaic for guests. Seven nights of Succos. Seven exalted, spiritual guests. We welcome the holy neshamaos of the raya mehemna, the faithful shepherds, leaders of our people, to our succahs. Avrohom, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yosef,...
In our Yom Tov prayer text, Sukkot is called “our festival of joy.” The primary theme of Sukkot is joy. What exactly is the connection between Sukkot and joy? A number of weeks ago, we read in...
The Torah reading on Simchas Torah contains the well known pasuk [verse]: “The Torah was commanded to us by Moshe, a Morasha [inheritance] to the Congregation of Yaakov.” [Devarim 33:4] There is an interesting teaching in the Talmud Yerushalmi:...
A Tale of Two Jews In the world of yesteryear, in a small village near Karlin, Belarus, lived two Jews. One was a Chassid—a pious follower of the great spiritual master Rabbi Aaron of Karlin. The other was...