The radical transition from the Yom Kippur solemnity to the Simchat Torah revelry can be dizzying, but it makes sense. There is a method to the madness.
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A Unique Event
On Wednesday morning, April 8, 2009, Jews around the world recited a blessing over the sun that was last recited in twenty-eight years ago. This blessing is recited when the sun returns to its point of origin, where it was when it was first created. Though the sun …
Importance of Custom
One of the common refrains I hear as a rabbi are the words, “Oh, it’s just a custom. We don’t need to keep every custom.” The supposition is that Jewish law is binding, but customs are arbitrary. One can adopt them or reject them at will.
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During the Hebrew month of Tamuz, Jews around the world observe a three-week semi mourning period to commemorate the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
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The Warring Nations
“There two nations are in your womb and two regimes from your innards will separate”. The ethos of these words, told to our Matriarch Rivkah with regards to the twins she was carrying in her womb, echo across generations with the clarity of prophetic vision. Every Jew struggles …
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 …
