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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Absorb It
hortly after giving the Ten Commandments at Sinai, G-d summoned Moses and said, “These are the laws that you should place before them.” He then taught him the Torah, commencing with the laws of slavery, “When you acquire a Hebrew slave…”[1]
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The Offender
Suppose you were cut off at the supermarket checkout counter, would you make a scene and or take it in stride? If you would take it in stride, let me ask you this. Suppose someone cut to the front of your line and you remained silent, but the person …
The Torah tells us to appoint judges and guardians at the gates of our cities. The city’s gathering place was usually at the gates, making it the fitting place for the courthouse and police station. However, Jewish scholarship has long maintained that there is a parallel teaching here. We are …
The eyes of a Jew on Rosh Hashanah—the annual day of judgment, are often filled with tears and remorse. We know we will be judged for our behavior. We also know that some of our behavior has been compulsive, some of our personality has been toxic, and some of our …
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 …
