The Morning Blessings: Eh’lo’hai N’shama/The Soul That You Created
Expressing gratitude to God for our lives and our souls is an essential part of the morning prayers. Eh’lo’hai n’shama sheh’na’ta’ta bee t’hora hee. Ah’tah v’ratah Ah’tah y’tzar’tah,…
Birkat Hamazon
Have you ever forgotten to tip the waiter after eating at a restaurant? Probably not, because that’s society’s conventional manner of thanking the wait-staff. While we do not usually have…
Thank You, Mom
Don’t forget to call your mother on Sunday, or send her flowers or a card. For those very, very out of the loop, Sunday is Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is a day set aside to show the moms…
May You Be Like
Before the Shabbat meal, it is customary for the parents to bless their children. This blessing is known as Birkat Habanim. Actually, there are two separate blessings recited, one for…
Potential Energy
Parashat Kee Tavo begins by juxtaposing two important agricultural laws. First (Deuteronomy 26:1-11), the Torah instructs the Israelites to bring bikkurim, the first fruits from among the…
Settling Texas
On December 29, 1845, the sovereign nation known as the Republic of Texas became the 28th state of the United States of America. In the ten years of Texas’ independence before becoming a…
The First Ten
If the children of Israel received the Torah at Mount Sinai, why did Moses come down bearing only “two tablets of testimony” luchot ha’aidoot (Exodus 32:15), on which the Ten Commandments…
Singing Praises
“…The prophets of the Jewish people ordained that the Hallel (Psalms of Praise), be recited on special occasions and celebrations [like Yom Tov], and at times of national deliverance from…
Settling Texas
On December 29, 1845, the sovereign nation known as the Republic of Texas became the 28th state of the United States of America. In the ten years of Texas’ independence before becoming a…
A Joyous Erev Shabbat
As our fellow Jews celebrate Shushan Purim in Jerusalem, and we prepare for Shabbat, enjoy another hamentashen, and crank up the festive celebratory Jewish music to mark the joyous…