At first glance one may think that these two special days on the Jewish calendar stand in stark contradistinction one from the other. Yom Kippur is a day of awe and solemnity, of fasting and abstinence while Succot is the holiday of joy and beauty, of good and plentiful food and friendly camaraderie. And yet there is an underlying theme that binds together all of the special days of the Jewish... READ MORE →
The year 5773 is now upon us. As with every new year, every new beginning, every new infant born and project initiated, we pin great hopes and expectations upon the new arrival. We hope and pray for a new year of tranquility and peace, success and health and for our emotional and spiritual growth. Most of us have had many such hopes in the past and truth be said not all of the new years met our... READ MORE →
This is the week that selichot – the penitential prayers that are added to the weekday morning prayer service – are recited in the synagogue according to Ashkenazic custom. Sephardic Jews have been reciting selichot in their morning prayer services since the start of the month of Elul. There are different customs even within these two main groupings of Jews as to which particular penitential... READ MORE →
I have been attending and participating in a cardiac rehab exercise program for the past fifteen months. I attend twice a week and spend an hour each time doing rather vigorous exercise under the watchful eyes of those in charge of the program. Even though I was only originally approved to the program for one year I have continued on my own past the mandatory time. All of my fellow... READ MORE →
The modern liberal Jew has redefined Judaism according to his or her wants and fashion. He or she has created a religion that has no fixed laws, that is built on vacuous slogans (see tikun olam), that embraces moral relativity and abhors tribal loyalties and defines Judaism in purely currently acceptable universalistic terms. This type of Judaism has removed all the peculiarities and uniqueness... READ MORE →
The sound of the shofar reverberated in our synagogue this week as the month of Elul began. It signaled the approach of the Days of Awe and its attendant holidays only a few short weeks from now. In previous generations, devoid as they were from today’s omnipresent technological wonders and obsessive necessity for instant communication with everybody and anybody, Elul took on a somber and... READ MORE →
בחודש שעבר הספקתי להשתתף בשתי השקות של ספרים. שני הספרים היו, לדעתי, יצירות חשובות שמצדיקות קהל קוראים יהודי נרחב. האחד, שנקרא "גור האריה מפראג", הוא הסבר באנגלית לפירוש המהר"ל מפראג, הגאון האגדי שחי לפני 500 שנה, לפירוש... READ MORE →
I was able to participate last month in two book launches. Both books were and are, in my opinion, important works that warrant readership by the broader Jewish public. One book, “The Lion Cub of Prague” is an English elucidation of the the Bible and the classic commentary of Rashi from the legendary sixteenth century scholar and savant, the Maharal of Prague. The book was authored by Moshe... READ MORE →
Summer in Israel is always hot but there are some that feel hotter than most others. I don’t know whether statistically this summer is hotter than average, but to this old rabbi it certainly has felt so. But the temperatures have been extremely high in most parts of the United States as well, so that my family there and I sympathize with each other when we speak on the phone - and then all... READ MORE →
הקיץ בישראל תמיד חם, אבל יש כאלה שחם להם יותר מאשר חם לרוב האנשים. אינני יודע אם מבחינה סטטיסטית הקיץ הזה חם יותר מהממוצע, אבל הרב הזקן הזה הכותב מאמר זה בהחלט מרגיש שכן. הטמפרטורות היו גבוהות ביותר גם ברוב האזורים של... READ MORE →
