The famous Haftara read on Shabbat Shuba – the Shabbat in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – comes from the Book of Hoshea, and begins with the prophet calling to the people, “Return, O Israel, unto...
It’s 2 AM. “Ani ye’sheinah, v’leebe eir, I am sleeping, but my heart is awake.” (Shir HaShirim 5:2) I came home from Selichos a little while ago, physically tired, but spiritually awake. This year, the...
What’s the Novelty? Teshuvah, or repentance, one of the greatest gifts that Judaism and the Torah have given humanity, is the idea that G-d gives second chances. This is a fundamental part of the Jewish experience and is written...
Aryeh: Music has the power to uplift, to inspire, to elevate, and to transform a person. In the times of the Holy Temple, in the Beis Hamikdash, the Leviim were engrossed in music. They...
Everything that will take place this year was already decreed on Rosh Hashanah, so why daven? There are many different approaches to answer this question, and many of them are based on material that was discussed in the preceding chapters. The...
I. Have a Good Year Many people greet each other on Rosh Hashanah with blessings for a good year, “Shanah tovah.” Rav Ya’akov Ben Asher, the 14th century German- Spanish author of the Tur, quotes an Ashkenazic custom...
For many of us, the period of Yamim Noraim is like a door that constantly opens and closes, but always remains in the same place. We constantly “move” – we go to the synagogue, we recite all...
The second Mishna of tractate Rosh Hashana teaches “On Rosh Hashana all who enter the world pass before Him (for judgment) like Bnei Maron” (sheep being counted). However, the Gemara there quotes an opinion that “Man is judged daily” [Rosh...
Every morning during Elul, we hear the shofar in shul. One of the reasons for this custom is that it is similar to the court giving a debtor thirty days to pay up his debts. So too,...
The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 7:6-7) describes the closeness to Hashem one can attain through teshuvah. He also describes the difference between before and after teshuvah. “Teshuvah is amazing because it brings a person close to the Shechinah, as it states (Hoshea 14:2) ‘Return...