Aishet Chayil and Esther
On Friday nights it is customary to sing a selection of verses from the final chapter of the Book of Proverbs (31:10-31) known as Aishet Chayil, A Woman of Valor. At this time of year…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is the story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus' attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 166 B.C.E. When Antiochus demanded that Hannah's…
A King, a Ghost and a Witch
Across the Western world, children are reveling in the realm of the un-dead, an off-shoot of a distinctly non-Jewish holiday (Halloween). Yet the underlying interest in ghosts, goblins…
Hallel and Yom Ha’atzma’ut
Is Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day, a religious holiday for Jews or a national/secular celebration? This question is at the heart of the debate as to whether one adds the prayer…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is the story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus’ attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 175 B.C.E. When Antiochus demanded that Hannah’s…
Salt and Hospitality
The region of the Dead Sea (a.k.a. Yam Ha'melach - The Sea of Salt) was once the home of Sodom and Gomorrah, famous for their destruction by fire and brimstone, as recorded in Genesis 19.…
A Scholar and A Playwright
As the epicenter of the Renaissance, Italy was filled with great centers of learning and creativity during the middle centuries of the last millennium. In one of these great centers of…
Elijah – Our Passover and Brit Milah Guest
At the Passover seder, those children who are still awake after the meal watch eagerly to see if the prophet Elijah comes to drink from his special cup...(and adults often shake the table…
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
Tonight starts the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, literally the Gathering of the Eighth, a separate and independent holiday that immediately follows Sukkot. During the seven days of Sukkot,…
Belarus, China, Jerusalem and Brooklyn: The Odyssey of the World’s Largest Yeshiva
For 125 years, from 1814 until 1939, the Mir Yeshiva served as a beacon of elite Torah study on the European continent. Situated in the small town of Mir in Belarus, the yeshiva was…