Oh the shame of it! I regularly sinned on Yom Kippur each year from 1964-67. I would stand next to my father, holding onto his Tallit, as I recited the Yom Kippur Amidah and Vidui – Confession. I seem to recall one hand grabbing the corner...
We have explained and demonstrated that the Seven Levels of Teshuva correspond to the Sefirot and to the Seven Shepherds. The structure of the Sefirot is important to the structure and interaction of the Seven Levels of Teshuva. The Sefirot are structured two ways; one in...
חָמַֽסְנוּ : We have forced others to do what they don’t want to do, including selling something they don’t want to sell . We cut people off from their desires, from Hashem , by complaining about them to Him, and by depriving them of what He has...
“The blessing was from a young child’s lips, but it was the first that Oliver had ever heard invoked upon his head; and through the struggles and sufferings, and troubles and changes, of his after life, he never once forgot it.” “In fact, if it had...
“Man Is Given Consideration in the Same Measure He Considers Others” (Yerushalmi Sotah 1:7) Our Sages relate that once a fast was decreed due to a drought. Rabbi Eliezer recited the twenty-four blessings that had been instituted for a fast day and was not answered. Then...
Not long into the Peloponnesian war, the Spartans suffered a calamitous defeat in the Gulf of Corinth. They realized that despite their supremely disciplined army they would be dominated by the Athen’s great sea power. The Spartans understood that they would have to improve their...
I could use a scapegoat right about now. I am a big believer in the three essentials of life: 1) Food, 2) Clothing, and 3) someone to blame. If they need a volunteer to throw the goat off the cliff, I'll be first in line....
I had no idea what the purpose of the loop and button was, but when the salesman told me that, "the pants even have a French Fly," I wanted the pants. Having worn hand me downs all my life, except for my Bar Mitzvah suit,...