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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The Talit is a shawl that we wrap around ourselves during prayer. It has four corners, from each of which, hangs eight fringes. Everyday, before we wrap ourselves in the Talit, we separate each fringe from the others and tighten the knots that bind them to the Talit.
As we run …
Sunday: The Vow
The Mishnah encourages us to take oaths against sins toward which we are inclined because “vows promote abstinence.” The Jerusalem Talmud discourages use of vows to prohibit behaviors that the Torah permits because “G-d’s prohibitions should be sufficient.” Which is the correct approach?
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The First of Nissan
The Pascal Lamb was offered in celebration of our ancestors’ liberation from Egypt, yet it is curious that G-d gave the instructions for this Mitzvah while our ancestors were still enslaved in Egypt. (1)
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Shemini: Can Israel Survive Alone?
In 1972, Yitzchak Rabin served as Israeli Ambassador to the United States. He had an audience with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who asked him if he felt he was alone among the 120 states represented in Washington. The Rebbe explained that “am levadad Yishkon”—our nation dwells alone …
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 …
