Monthly Archives: July 2015

Tu B’Av, the sixteenth of Av, is described in the Mishna (Ta’anit 4:8) in terms of romantic love, with the maidens of Yisrael, wearing borrowed (so no one would feel embarrassed) white dresses, dancing in the vineyards to attract a husband. Coming … Continue reading →

There seems a special urgency this year, recalling the urgency our parents/grandparents must have felt during the Holocaust. Although there have been more evil regimes in the world than I’d care to count, this time, blood-thirsty fanatics are on the verge … Continue reading →

For many years I’ve taken a rather minority stance and have fasted on Tisha B’Av only until noon. While I haven’t advertised it, I haven’t hidden it either. It seemed to me that closing my eyes to the re-establishment of … Continue reading →

It’s not uncommon that one of the most anticipated moments of becoming a parent is the first Shabbat you bless your child. Not only do you form an additional bond with your own child, but also with generation after generation of … Continue reading →

“How can God award a violent, impulsive murderer with eternal access to Himself?” is exactly the wrong question to ask at the beginning of Parshat Pinchas. וְהָיְתָה לּוֹ וּלְזַרְעוֹ אַחֲרָיו בְּרִית כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר קִנֵּא לֵאלֹהָיו וַיְכַפֵּר עַל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, “And for … Continue reading →

A “mantra” of Kiruv organizations (institutions aimed at leading unobservant Jews into (usually) orthodox lives) has long been לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ובמצות אף על פי שלא לשמה, שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה (….sh’mitoch s’lo lishma bo lishma), “One should engage with Torah and … Continue reading →