The Torah teaches that every mitzvah is vital, yet all of Judaism rests upon a single stem— faith in G-d and in the truth of the Torah. If that stem remains alive, everything else can grow from it.
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Does He Need A Census?
The book of numbers opens with G-d directing Moses to take a national census,[1] which begs an obvious question. Does an All Knowing G-d require a census to know the precise number of Jews? This question is only amplified when you consider that this was the …
Comfort
Just before I sat down to write this essay, I tucked my daughter Rochel into bed. As I walked into her room, she was struggling with pillows, blankets and a comforter that were way too large for her to maneuver. I offered to help, but she declined. I realized that …
Simchat Torah is usually understood as us rejoicing with the Torah. As we read the last passage of the Torah and immediately turn around to read the first passage, we rejoice over studying the Torah.
However, Simchat Torah has a deeper meaning. It is not only we who rejoice over the …
Our sages have instituted many additional enactments that help safeguard the original thirty-nine Melachos. There are two forms of protective legislation that our sages have put into effect concerning the laws of Shabbos.
A. Safeguarding the laws of Shabbos.
The first form of legislation is one that safeguards the biblical prohibitions of …
These past two days have been the most difficult for our people in the last fifty years. It was Simchat Torah, a time for rejoicing, yet it was a time of horror. Nearly a thousand members of our family were brutally murdered, more than a hundred were taken hostage, and …
