In response to numerous requests for Quick links to Essays on Ya'aleh Viyavo for the Yom Tov - Festival - Prayer, we offer the following Ya'aleh ViYavo by Rabbi Oded Sher: Yaaleh Viyavo II by Rabbi Simcha Weinberg What Is The Reason? - Yaaleh...
We derive the appellation for God’s Name, used in the Rosh Chodesh Mussaf – Additional Prayer – for Rosh Chodesh Tammuz from the combination of letters and vowels of the following verse: “Yet all this is worth
Having been the poster child of the 99lb weakling for all those Charles Atlas ads in the back of my childhood comic books, I feel that I must inform my friends, and for that matter, my enemies as well, of my brute strength. My pinky...
The Tribe of Levi appears once again in this week’s portion, Korach, and their role expands even more. The tribe that warred against Shechem, plotted with Shimon against Joseph, stood fast against the psychological warfare of Pharaoh, and fought alongside Moshe after the sin of...
I have self-diagnosed yet again. It seems that I suffer from Cryptomnesia, or, unacknowledged memories. There are times when I am inspired by an idea that was long ago planted in my memory by something I read or heard. The idea is not truly mine,...
Thales is usually known as the 6th Century BCE philosopher who coined the phrase; “Know thyself.” He also famously predicted the solar eclipse of 585 BCE. He once asked to be taken outdoors by a Thracian girl so he could continue his brilliant study of the...
“Moses heard and fell on his face.” (16:4) I wonder how I would have reacted upon seeing Moshe bow and fall on his face. I suspect that I would have immediately fallen on my face and waited for Moshe to signal that it was all right to...
I was all of 16 years old, and was quite confused. I had serious questions about how people use Judaism to relate to God, and I was asked to meet once a week with public school students and answer their questions. It was pouring that night...
He listened to, but did not participate in the ongoing conversations around Miriam’s Well in the days that followed their devastating punishment for their reaction to the spies. People were frustrated, depressed and angry. “I don’t want to live out the rest of my life...
“Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of the spies of the land, tore their clothes.” (Numbers 14:6) Whose clothes did they tear? The Kotzker explains that they tore the clothes of high position off the backs of the other spies. The first...
Teresa of Avila mentions in her dramatic autobiography that her prayers were continuously interrupted by the Devil and her serious thought was replaced by nonsense. (Me too) She also endowed Satan with bad temper and false humility. At one point Satan visited her, and Teresa...
My wife and I met a couple we haven’t seen in more than fourteen years. We, all, were truly happy to see each other, but fourteen years is a huge gap, especially when both couples have been through so much. How do you connect after...