Author Archives: Harry Zeitlin

We’ve just completed Rosh HaShana. If we were lucky, it was filled with the introspection, intentions and determination that we generally call תשובה (tshuva), turning/returning/ “repentance” (the actual physical and other repairs to the damage we’ve caused was focused on … Continue reading →

Assimilation goes much deeper than intermarriage, dropping out of synagogue or eating at McDonalds. It has much more to do with integrating and adopting “foreign” values which, though they be popular in, sometimes even predominate, the surrounding society, are actually … Continue reading →

Each year I enter Rosh HaShana totally unprepared. I want to share this Bracha (blessing) with each of you.    

The second perek (chapter) of Mishna Berachot concludes with  רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, לֹא כָּל הָרוֹצֶה לִטּוֹל אֶת הַשֵּׁם יִטֹּל, Rabban Shimon, son of Rabban Gamliel, says that not everyone who wants to assume the title (of a tzadik) is … Continue reading →

I often wonder if each of us is really expected to do it all. The number of  religious people who take an active part in Israel’s defense has dramatically increased. Likewise, a growing number of formerly non-religious people, who historically have taken … Continue reading →

As we focus on the Yomim Noraim, the days of fear and awe (Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, the Jewish New Year and, ten days later, Day of Atonement), there’s value in exploring whether we actually buy into the whole … Continue reading →

Har HaBayit, the Temple Mount, a mere 35 acres at the top of a very small hill in Jerusalem, is the most hotly contested real estate on earth. It’s a political hot potato, to the degree that when Jerusalem was … Continue reading →

Rosh Chodesh Elul, a new month, an eternally new month. This morning I began to sound the shofar, not merely practicing for “the real deal” on Rosh HaShanah, but beginning the daily call to seriously go over my actions, correct my … Continue reading →

Quite a few years ago, speaking with one of my oldest and closest friends, I complained that things never seem to work out the way you thought they would. Her reply was, “Sometimes they work out better.” Sometimes…. We humans … Continue reading →

Rosh Chodesh (first of the month, new moon) represents the realm of hard judgement. This month, Av, on the ninth of which we fast to remember the destruction of the both holy Temples as well as a myriad of other … Continue reading →