The Shulchan Aruch (Orah Haim 670:2) writes: “The extra meals that people add [during Chanukkah] are optional meals, because they [the Rabbis] did not institute them [these days] as [a time of] feasting and rejoicing.” According to halacha,...
Many people ask the following question: Chanukah is an eight-day holiday. There are dozens and dozens of laws in Hilchos Chanukah in Shulchan Aruch. The holiday is packed with halachik detail. And yet in the entire Talmud there...
Everyone jokes about what they would do if they ever won the lottery. For most people, it’s just fantasy. But for Mark “Suchy” Klein, that dream became real, not once,...
FAST FACTS ABOUT DOVI WEISS AND YESHIVAT SHAVEI CHEVRON Name: Dovi Weiss Born in: Kibbutz Chofetz Chaim, Israel. Later moved to Yerushalayim and then Beit El. After finishing high school in Beit El, I...
The Torah in Parashat Vayishlah tells the famous story of the mysterious man who attacked Yaakob Abinu as he was making his way back to Eretz Yisrael from Haran. Yaakob and his assailant wrestled throughout the night, with...
Time to go home. Many years have passed since Yaakov left his parents’ home, in fear of his brother Eisav. He lived in exile with his uncle Lavan, working for him for twenty long,...
Two Perspectives Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go camping together, they put up a tent and go inside to enjoy a tranquil rest near the fire. In middle of the night, Sherlock turns to Dr. Watson and says, “So...
Twenty years ago, a woman I knew came to me with a heavy heart. She was married to a man who had become an alcoholic. This wasn’t social drinking nor was it “a little too much at kiddush...
And Yaakov called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen an angel of G-d face to face and my soul has been saved. Bereishis 32:31 There are a few instances throughout Jewish liturgy where it...
What does it really mean to be “Shomer Shabbos”? As Yaakov Avinu prepared for their showdown, he sent Eisav a critical message: im Lavan garti, with Lavan I have lived (32:5). Rashi notes that the Hebrew word...