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March 16, 2024 – 11:20 pm | Comments Off on Purim: A Nation United41 views

The die was cast. King Achashverosh granted Haman a genocidal license against the Jewish nation. Mordechai was one of the first to learn of the plot and he appealed to Queen Esther for help. Esther explained that it was dangerous even for her to enter the king’s chambers unbidden. Mordechai …

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Articles tagged with: History

Geed Hanasheh—Sciatic Nerve

November 13, 2021 – 10:30 pm | Comments Off on Geed Hanasheh—Sciatic Nerve4,928 views
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Geed hanasheh is the sciatic nerve, a sinew in the hip that Jews are forbidden to eat. Many know that kosher meat must be slaughtered and salted. Not many know about neekur, the intricate process that entails the removal of the animal’s forbidden parts, including the geed hanasheh. In fact, …

Shemot: Diaspora Judaism

January 2, 2021 – 6:53 pm | Comments Off on Shemot: Diaspora Judaism1,422 views
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Diaspora Judaism has been a problem for the community of nations from time immemorial. It is a unique phenomenon that only the Jew has experienced. Exiled from our country for nearly two thousand years, we stubbornly refused to assimilate and to dissipate. We clung tenaciously to our Jewish identity and …

Re’e: The Missing Festival

August 4, 2018 – 11:47 pm | Comments Off on Re’e: The Missing Festival2,227 views
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The festival of Sukkot falls on the fifteenth of Tishrei, two weeks into the new Jewish year. Accordingly, the Torah tells us, in Exodus 34:22, to celebrate Sukkot at the turn of the year. However, there is a discrepancy. Eleven chapters earlier, Exodus 23:16 told us to celebrate Sukkot at …

Tetzveh: Good to the Last Drop

February 17, 2018 – 10:59 pm | Comments Off on Tetzveh: Good to the Last Drop4,286 views
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Are you a first drop or a last drop kind of person? When you squeeze an olive, the first drop is the purest, the last drop is extracted from the dregs. A first drop kind of person, is a perfectionist; one who strives for purity and the best in all …

Passover: Chad Gadya

April 5, 2017 – 12:49 pm | Comments Off on Passover: Chad Gadya3,811 views
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A Conflagration
Although the Chad Gadya is not part of the Chabad tradition, the melody holds universal appeal. In fact, one of my earliest Passover memories is learning this classic. My Bubbie’s Haggadah had beautiful illustrations and I spent many hours pouring over the pictures of the kid, cat, dog, stick …

Vayakhel Pekudei: To Carry Forward

March 19, 2017 – 1:40 am | Comments Off on Vayakhel Pekudei: To Carry Forward2,301 views
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To Raise a Child
If we look back on our upbringing, we will note that we are an amalgam of a huge family. We carry traits from our mothers, fathers, and grandparents. Some of our values were taught by our mothers, some by our fathers, and some by our grandparents. Some …

Shabbat Zachor: Memory Is A Bridge

March 5, 2016 – 8:49 pm | Comments Off on Shabbat Zachor: Memory Is A Bridge2,862 views
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Remember
Can you imagine driving down the street and suddenly realizing that you forgot where you are coming from? If you don’t know where you are coming from, you can’t know where you are going or why. Severed from the past, the present has no bridge to the future.

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Ki Tisa; Don’t Fix It

March 3, 2016 – 12:27 pm | Comments Off on Ki Tisa; Don’t Fix It2,806 views
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If It Ain’t Broke
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, is a pithy saying from the American South The idea is that if something has a track record of success, don’t tinker with it.
Over the last few decades, the words ‘Jewish continuity’ has become a catchphrase. What can we do …