What If? “If the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, our children and our children’s children would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.” -- The Haggadah Really? We would...
I once attended a funeral for a woman whose life had been marked by tension and complexity. There was a palpable strain among her children and grandchildren, and speaker after speaker, sometimes subtly and sometimes not, hinted at the conflicts...
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Diaspora Yeshiva Band, a group that transformed the landscape of Jewish music and inspired a generation of seekers to connect to Yiddishkeit through song. Emerging from the...
I. Danger in Yeshiva? It is now common for many American yeshiva students to spend a “gap year” in Israel after high school. This year usually fosters religious growth through intense study in a specialized environment. Since war began with...
As the child observes during the singing of Ma Nishtana, there are two points during the seder when we dip some food before eating it. Early in the seder, after kiddush, we dip the karpas (a piece...
An earthen vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; if it was boiled in a copper vessel, [the vessel] shall be scoured and rinsed with water. Vayikra 6:21 Introduction Dishwashers are among the modern-day appliances that have helped...
What can we possibly be thankful for at a time like this? Parshas Tzav continues the discussion of korbanos that we began last week, and it’s always nice to see a sequel that doesn’t disappoint. One of...
DELICIOUS ROAST CHICKEN WITH CRISPY POTATOES INGREDIENTS: 1 -31⁄2–4-pound whole chicken Kosher salt 11⁄2 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed, thinly sliced crosswise 2 tablespoons margarine, melted 1tablespoon thyme leaves 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided Freshly ground black pepper Paprika DIRECTIONS: We are a chicken loving family. Every...
This week’s parsha begins with the mitzvah of the Korban Olah. Aharon and his children are given the tremendous responsibility of the avodah in the Bais Hamikdash, but after the Torah introduces the Korbon Olah, the first thing Aharon...
On the night of the Seder, something awesome occurs which happens only once a year. The Chid”a sites the Zohar that by the Seder Hashem himself comes to each Jewish home with His pamalya, his Holy retinue. The...