Mourning Jerusalem
Today, Jews all over the world observe the fast of Tisha b’Av. It is on this day that the Jewish people mourn the destruction of both the First and the Second Temples. The First Temple…
What’s in the Book: Kings II (Part 1)
The Second Book of Kings continues the history of a divided nation: the Kingdom of Israel in the north (10 tribes) and the Kingdom of Judea (Judah and Benjamin) in the south. After…
Time of Freedom?
The sages refer to the holiday of Passover as zman chay’roo’tay’noo, the time of our freedom. This may seem obvious, since Passover celebrates the redemption of the Jewish people from…
The Sabbath of Remembering
This Shabbat is Shabbat Parashat Zachor, the Sabbath of Remembering. The Torah portion that is read as the Maftir (additional) portion after the conclusion of the regular weekly Torah…
The Blessings of the Amidah: Gratitude
The nineteen blessings of the Amidah make up the core of the Jewish prayer service. The eighteenth blessing is an outright statement of gratitude. It is the longest of the nineteen…
The Challenge of Fitting In
The weekly Torah reading of Mikeitz (Genesis 41:1-44:17), which always coincides with Chanukah, tells the story of the rise of Joseph the son of Jacob from slave to viceroy. And while…
Special For Chanukah: The Chanukah Blessings
On the first night of Chanukah, one light is placed on the far right of the menorah. Each succeeding night, one light is added to the left of the previous night's candle(s). The newest…
What’s In The Book: Joshua
The Book of Joshua (Yehoshua) is the first of the ten books known as Nevi'im, the Books of the Prophets. It begins after Moses’ death, when Joshua bin Nun assumed the leadership of the…
“If It Walks Like A Duck…”
There is a famous statement attributed to the American writer James Whitcomb Riley (1849 – 1916) that asserts: “When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks…
It’s All In The Timing
When setting out to conquer the Promised Land, the Israelites' first military confrontation was with Jericho. This battle is famous...Why? Because (now sing aloud to yourself): "Joshua…