Eating Grapes
Did you know that by Jewish law you may pick fruit that is not yours so long as you eat them in the garden from which you’ve plucked them?
I’m not kidding, here is the relevant text. “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you …
Vayakhel: Sleep is Good
Sleep is good for you, or so they say. But how much sleep is good? Maimonides suggested eight hours—one third of the day. I haven’t met anyone who disagrees with the notion that sleep is good, but I have often wondered why sleep is necessary? Wouldn’t it …
Shabbat of Penance
The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are Aseret Yemei Teshuva, the ten days of penance and the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is Shabbat Shuva, the Shabbat of return. This year, the two days of Rosh Hashana lead directly into the Shabbat of return.
Tweet
The Silver Lining
We had spent the afternoon ensconced in our warm home hardly aware of the wintery conditions outdoors. As Shabbat ended we ventured outside and encountered a heavy snowfall. I groaned inwardly envisioning slush filled roads and back breaking shoveling, but was taken aback when a woman behind me …
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 …
