Ushpeezin (Oo’shpee’zin)
During the festival of Sukkot, the sukkah is intended to be our home. For example, since one would normally dine in the house, on Sukkot one dines in the sukkah. Because the sukkah is…
For Whom Do You Mourn?
In an era when media and entertainment are strongly integrated into personal lives, many people feel as if they have a connection to the celebrities they most admire. It is human nature…
Simeon, the Son of Jacob
Leah named her second son Simeon* (ben Jacob), saying “Because God has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this one also.” Simeon, a zealous youth, often reacted quickly and…
Ushpeezin (Oo’shpee’zin)
During the festival of Sukkot, the sukkah is intended to be our home. For example, since one would normally dine in the house, on Sukkot one dines in the sukkah. Because the sukkah is…
Who Was Rava?
The scholars of Babylon had a tremendous impact on Jewish life. Many of the greatest rabbis came from the academies in Babylon, whose thoughts and opinions were recorded in the Talmud.…
Ushpeezin (Oo’shpee’zin)
During the festival of Sukkot, the sukkah is intended to be our home. For example, since one would normally dine in the house, on Sukkot one dines in the sukkah. Because the sukkah is…
Catch-22
In honor of National Novel Writing Month: Joseph Heller is best known for his novel Catch-22, a satiric work whose title has become an idiom referring to a situation in which one cannot…
Ushpeezin (Oo’shpee’zin)
During the festival of Sukkot, the sukkah is intended to be our home. For example, since one would normally dine in the house, on Sukkot one dines in the sukkah. Because the sukkah is…
Serach’s Seranade
When perusing the list of the generations of Jacob found in Genesis 46, one gets a strange sense that there was a powerful genetic predisposition in Jacob's family for male children.…
Judah, Son of Jacob
When Judah, the fourth son of Leah and Jacob, was born, Leah said, “This time let me gratefully praise God” (based on the Hebrew infinitive, l’hodot, “to praise”). Judah first…