Category Archives: Uncategorized

Approaching candle-lighting time here in Jerusalem, it’s almost Shabbat and Shimini Atzeret/Simchat Torah (we celebrate both on one day here). First thing this morning, I awoke to learn than a former rabbinic student of mine had suddenly died. It was … Continue reading →

Here in Jerusalem, for example, we’re in the midst of an almost total civilian lockdown. Not only has the traditional Arba Minim Shuk, the various open markets where we can purchase our etrogim and  lulavim been prevented from opening, and … Continue reading →

Much of my Torah study focus these past years has been Zohar. One of its major themes describes (in great detail and from almost unlimited perspectives) how The Creator, through an incredibly complex process, reduced and reconfigured the Infinite Light, … Continue reading →

No one alive has ever had a year quite like this past one. To be sure, there remain a diminishing number, among our people, who survived the unimaginable horrors of the Shoah, and elsewhere in the world those who survived … Continue reading →

The Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:5 teaches of one who saves a life that he is as if he saved an entire world, Olam Maleh, עולם מלא. Although halachically, this leaves many questions open, it does make the point that each of … Continue reading →

Unique among Jewish Special Days, Tisha B’av lacks any aspect of celebration. Nonetheless, it is a day which many of us, especially those of us living today in Israel, feel a strong compulsion to at least acknowledge. Furthermore, in our … Continue reading →

I really thought we had a chance. I really did. Although no one would ever hope for a pandemic plague, once it’s here, we should see what positive changes it will either force or allow us to examine. The radical … Continue reading →

In these moments before Shavuot, we are completing the seven weeks of Sefirat HaOmer, counting each day since our rescue from the slavery of Egypt to become full-fledged people, until our reaching the maturity to accept our charge and destiny, … Continue reading →

Yom Yerushalayim, for many years, has been very bittersweet for me. That was the day in 1989 I left Israel with my family, with just a little hope left that we’d return in just a couple years. As I’d pass … Continue reading →

Hodu L’ashem Ki Tov, Ki L’Olam Chasdo. Give thanks to God because He is Good, His Love Persists Forever (Tehillim 136). One of the very few things we, with our limited minds and perceptions, can say about The Creator and … Continue reading →