03 Oct Simchas Torah: The Ultimate Joy
We are informed that Hashem created the world for kindness, as it says “Olam chesed Yiboneh.” Avraham Avinu arrived at the conclusion when he meditated over the purpose of the...
We are informed that Hashem created the world for kindness, as it says “Olam chesed Yiboneh.” Avraham Avinu arrived at the conclusion when he meditated over the purpose of the...
Does the prohibition against washing dirty clothes on Chol Ha-Mo’ed, the intermediate days of the holiday, still apply today when doing laundry is relatively quick and easy?1 In theory, washing laundry...
I think it was 1995 when Rav Feivel Cohen returned from an Agudah convention upset. He explained to his congregation, of which I was a member, that there was great...
In the Succos liturgy, we say “Bal tehei mitzvas succah kala b’einecha ki k’neged kol mitzvoseha das chukoseha shkula – Let not the mitzvah of succah be light in your...
Succos is one of the Shalosh Regalim. The mitzva of Aliya L’regel to the Bais Hamikdash applied to all three Regalim. One may try to understand what the mitzva of traveling up to the Bais Hamikdash is all about. Is this mitzva a way of...
As we make our final herculean effort for a seal of good life for the coming year, here are a few suggestions. They are based upon three principles. The first...
The Midrash brings down in the name of Rav Yochanan that the malachim come before Hashem and ask, “When is Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur?” Hashem responds to them that we need to ask the Bnei Yisroel, for the Bais Din establishes when Rosh Hashana falls out. Why would the malachim ask...
A seemingly lopsided dispute between leading Mussar thinkers may be more even than initially appears, finding basis in an oddly placed Medieval polemic. When Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan brought his Chafetz Chaim before publication...
Jews traditionally name children after ancestors, Ashkenazim after deceased ancestors and Sephardim after living ancestors. However, there are many non-traditional Jews and many reasons why a traditional Jew may want...
The concept of not doing “nekama” and “netira” (taking revenge or harboring a grudge) is seen clearly in the Torah. The classic example of this would be if Reuven asks Shimon to lend him a...