FIVE FLOORS ABOVE, Shimmy Biegeleisen phoned his wife from his office at money-management firm Fiduciary Trust International Inc. “There’s been an explosion next door,” the 42-year-old vice president said. “Don’t...
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we kneel on the floor during davening at oleinu and while saying v’kohanim. In addition, many times we wish to kneel on the ground...
I. Who Is Greater? Is it better to be good all your life or to turn your life around? Someone who overcomes sin and returns to full observance, a ba’al...
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 –...
NO BRAINER A freshman in college started his first day of classes. His Jewish teacher was clearly an atheist, and started the day by saying the following: “Students, is there anyone...
We all know the joke about the classic text message from a Jewish mother: “Start worrying. Details to follow.” The truth is there is much to worry about these days:...
During this period of the Aseret Yemeh Teshuba – the Ten Days of Repentance, from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur – the Yeser Ha’ra (evil inclination) is gong to get...
The Gemara teaches, “Teshuvah [repentance] is great, because it reaches the Throne of Glory.” What exactly does this mean? How does our teshuvah reach G-d’s throne in the heavens? And what...
The Tune The tefillos of Yom Kippur are sung in special melodies, which have been sung for centuries. The holy sefarim explain that these tunes annul the harsh judgment. As it...
The Talmud tells us (Taanis 30b) that every year on Yom Kippur we commemorate the fact that on that very day, so many years ago, Moshe Rabbeinu came down from...