The Three Ts
On Rosh Hashana we declare: "Repentance, prayer and charity remove the evil of the decree!" In Hebrew, these constitute the 3 Ts: Teshuva, Tefila and Tzedaka. Teshuva (repentance), a…
Prayer’s Essence
According to many opinions, the most minimal prayer format one should recite daily should consist of praise of God, a request of God and a thank you to God. Thus for instance, a mother of…
Terror at the Olympics
On July 27, 1996, the world was startled when a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The bomb killed one person directly, another indirectly (heart attack)…
If You Thought the Spanish Expulsion Was Bad…
Those familiar with Jewish history are well aware of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain that occurred concurrently with Columbus’ sailing for the new world. A great number of these…
Humiliation Day
Surf the web and you will find that most days on the calendar have been designated as “holidays.” Many of these holidays are intended to be cute. Others seek to acknowledge different…
How Does God Rest
On the first six days of creation, God created (Day 1) the heavens and earth, light as separated from darkness; (Day 2) the firmament to separate the water (Day 3) dry land, a bringing…
Have You Threshed Recently
Not too many people have the opportunity to thresh their own grain nowadays. Even the original physical method of threshing has been replaced by large, automated threshing machines.…
The Three Ts
On Rosh Hashana we declare: “Repentance, prayer and charity remove the evil of the decree!” In Hebrew, these constitute the 3 Ts: Teshuva, Tefila and Tzedaka. Teshuva (repentance) a…
Moving On Up
The relationship of the Jews with the Land of Israel is long, varied and quite complex. While Jews have not always had sovereignty over the land, they have almost always had a presence…
Birthday Cake For Shabbat
It is highly unlikely that Moses, Hillel even Maimonides (all experts on Jewish law) ever worried about what to write on a child’s birthday cake. But different societies have different…