There are a series of four fast days that commemorate the destruction of the holy Temple. The first one falls on the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet. This fast begins at sunrise and ends at nightfall.   more »

How can we recapture the sacred passion that our ancestors experienced in the Temple while we are still in the diaspora?   more »

The sins of selfishness are . . .   more »

Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues were traveling to the holy city of Jerusalem. As they crested the last mountain, the ruinous sight of the Western Wall lay before them. His colleagues began to wail and mourn the devastating destruction while Rabbi Akiva stood quietly by with a mysterious smile on his face. How could he laugh in the face of destruction?   more »

The Hebrew word Chessed, kindness, has a numeric value of seventy-two. Kabbalah teaches that the last seventy-two days of the Hebrew calendar year are permeated with Chessed, divine benevolence. This period begins on the seventeenth day of the Hebrew month, Tamuz. This begs a question. How can a period of such suffering be simultaneously permeated with divine benevolence?   more »