On Friday morning one should take pains to personally prepare whatever is necessary for Shabbat, even if one happens to have several servants. Consider the example of the Sages of Israel,
Debbie and I were eating in an Indian restaurant and overheard an Indian man explain to his American friend that, “We eat with our right hand, because we use the left hand to clean ourselves after using the bathroom.” The Halacha is similar in practical terms,...
The Ran (Rabbeinu Nissim, Pesachim 4a, “U’mihu”) answers the Rosh’s question (Pesachim 1:10) of why is the blessing over the Chanukah candles “l’hadlik” and not “al hadlakat,”
He appeared at the well as a penniless vagabond. Jacob had nothing with him. “My brothers, where are you from?” he asked. I wonder if they reacted to “My brothers” the way I react when a panhandler on the subway begins his pitch with, “Hey!...
Hosea 12:13 – 14:3 Is it Rosh Hashana again? The prophetic selection may not begin on the theme of repentance, but it certainly ends with it. We read the exact text we read on Shabbat Shuvah.
The Problems with Blessings: Leah’s children, Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, Yissachar and Zebulon each received a blessing that came with baggage: Reuben’s birthright, as the First Born was forfeit to Joseph. Shimon’s
Measured By Dreams: My grandfather, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman zt”l would often say to students who were leaving Yeshiva in order to work: “How did Jacob know that it