Author Archives: Harry Zeitlin

It’s curious that while Parshat Kedoshim mandates that the Jewish People be holy, Kedoshim Tihiyu, nowhere is “being holy” in itself listed as one of the 613 mitzvot. Rather, the parsha proceeds to list more than 50 (approximately 8-1/2% of the total) … Continue reading →

Israel never had a greater ally and supporter than Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, a ger tzedek, a righteous convert. Vayichad Yitro al kol hatovah asher asah Hashem l’Yisrael (Shemot 19:9), “And Yitro rejoiced at all the goodness that God performed for Israel”. … Continue reading →

Rabbi Shloime Twerski zt”l didn’t allow the practice, common in most shuls, for someone to walk the tzedakah pushka around the room to make it convenient for everyone to fulfill the mitzvah of daily charitable giving. He explained that this … Continue reading →

Shir HaShirim, usually read by Ashkenazim on Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach (1) and by Sephardim before every Shabbat, presents on the surface as a secular love poem. In fact, it was the last (or among the last) scroll to be accepted … Continue reading →

Until just a few days ago, I had waited for years to be asked at Seder why we begin by breaking the middle matzah, יחץ (Yachatz). The simple answer is that we cannot begin to become whole until we first … Continue reading →

Of course, there are likely to be at least a couple skeptics at most seder tables. The story of the Exodus, with it’s other-worldly plagues, set in the midst of detailed and convoluted rabbinic explanations of a few Biblical passages, doesn’t mean … Continue reading →

Three times a day we recite the the eighth blessing in the Amida praying that all Yisrael be healed. The language is very specific–it says “Rofay kol amo Yisrael” (…all of His nation…) rather than, for example, “Rofay cholay amo … Continue reading →

We don’t consider the material world to be perfectible because we aim higher. Bringing the “world”, primarily this word refers to each individual Jew (Olam Katan, a small universe) maximally refining himself, primarily through Torah and Mitzvot (which, admittedly, are … Continue reading →

Too many people fear ambiguity. One reason why Megillat Esther, the Purim story, has remained so popular down the ages is because such clear lines are drawn. We know who are the good guys and who the bad–Esther and Mordechai, obviously, are the heroes, … Continue reading →

Haman’s plot failed. He, and all of his sons were hung on the gallows he had erected to kill Mordechai. Mordechai, only yesterday condemned to death, is today, like Joseph was long ago in Egypt, “second to the King”. Esther … Continue reading →