The festival of Succot contains two major mitzvot, dwelling in the Succah on the night of the 15th of Tishrei, and the taking of the Arba’at ha-Minim (the Four Species). Both of these acts are … more

The holiday of Thanksgiving in the United States of America is classically observed as a celebration of G-d’s bounty. It is for the same reason, according to Ramban, that the Torah tells us to … more

His steely eyes should have given him away, but over 30 years ago, I was a new immigrant, only four months into my Israeli army service, and I had no idea who this Lieutenant General really was. We … more

We have been on a spiritual journey since the beginning of Chodesh Elul. This month helps us to focus upon what is false and what is real, in order that we may pursue matters of ultimate spiritual … more

Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, author of Eim Habanim Semeichah,  described a Kol Nidrei during the Holocaust, Yom Kippur 1942. He was in Hungary, from which mass deportations wouldn’t … more

I still don’t know how he made it into Infantry Officer’s course, but I do know how difficult it was for him. Overweight, and far from being an athlete, the physical challenges he … more

More than what he was saying, it was his face that caught my attention. Flicking on the television absent-mindedly as I was getting dressed for a wedding, I came across the middle of a program with a … more

There is a tale of Rosh Hashana in the book of Nechemiah. It was in the initial years of the Return from the exile of 70 years following the destruction of the first Temple. The crowd that … more

If you ask most Jews, “What is the name of the next holy day after Rosh Hashanah,” they would probably respond with, “Yom Kippur.” They would answer in this fashion, since it … more

The banging on the door was a shock, but everyone knew what it meant. The summer of 1938 was not an auspicious time to be Jewish in Berlin, yet Hans was not Jewish, or at least he was not Jewish … more