Holidays

Vayeishev/Chanuka: Olives and Oil ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

Olives and Oil During these days of Chanuka, everybody is talking about the miracle of the Menorah and the jug of shemen zayit zach (pure...

Mikeitz: Chanukah wisdom ~ Wonders of The Holy Tongue

Article abstract: In the Torah portion Miketz, the word "חכם" (wise) appears for the first time in Scripture - used by Pharaoh to...

Mikeitz/Chanukah: Playing with Fire ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

Playing with Fire When telling of the future downfall of the descendants of Esau, the prophet Ovadiah (Obadiah 1:18) refers to the House...

Terumah/Yom Kippur: To Cover up or to Clean Up, That is the Question ~ Yehoshua Steinberg

Article abstract for Parashat Terumah: This week's Parashah acutely delineates the makeup and measurements of the Tabernacle and its...

Terumah/Rosh Chodesh Adar: The Beauty of Adar ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

This week ushers in the month of Adar in all its glory. Like all the months of the Jewish calendar, the name Adar is derived from the...

Tetzaveh/Purim: For Crying Out Loud ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

When Esav found out that the blessing from his father Yitzchak had been given to Yaakov, Esav “cried out a great and bitter cry” (Genesis...

Lag B’Omer: Putting the Bar in Bar Mitzvah ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

On Lag B’Omer, Jews all over the world celebrate Rashbi’s hillula. Rashbi, of course, is an acronym for the Tannaic sage, Rabbi...

Pesach: Cutting the Sea Open ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

On the Seventh Day of Passover, we read one of the most captivating stories in the entire Bible: the splitting of the sea. After the...

Is Pesach really Passover?

Yehoshua Steinberg I. Merciful Skipping שמ’ יב:יג – וראיתי את הדם ופסחתי עלכם. Ex. 12:13 – I will see the blood and pass over you. מכילתא...

Geula: emancipation or Expulsion?

Geula: emancipation or Expulsion? I. You Can Take Slaves out of the country, but… The Zohar Chadash tells of two types of salvation in...

Pesach: Liberty and Freedom for All ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The Holiday of Passover, when the Jewish People were emancipated from slavery in Egypt, is described in our liturgy as Zman Cheiruteinu,...

Chanukah: Spinning in Concentric Circles ~ Reuven Chaim Klein

Long before the fidget spinner became the world’s favorite pastime, Jewish children played with spinning tops on the holiday of Chanuka....

Yom Kippur: Degrees of Sin ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

Throughout the Yom Kippur services we repeatedly confess our sins and beg for forgiveness. In doing so, we mimic the confessionals of...

Tazria-HaChodesh: Old Month versus New Month ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

This Shabbat we read Parshat HaChodesh, the last of four special Torah readings before Pesach. Parshat HaChodesh establishes Nissan as...

Rosh HaShannah: A Tale of Two Beginnings ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The Mishnah teaches that on Rosh Hashana all the inhabitants of the world pass before G-d like the animals of a corral, and G-d passes...

Shavuot: Preparing for Kabbalas HaTorah ~ Tzvi Abrahams

Shavuos שָׁבֻעוֹת Preparing for Kabbalas HaTorah כִּלָה: finish, complete כְּלִי: receiving vessel תַּכְלִית: purpose תְּכֵלֶת:...

Shavuos: The Mountain of Many Names ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

We are all probably familiar with the name of the site of the greatest mass revelation of G-d’s existence—Mount Sinai. However,...

Behar: Words of Redemption ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The end of Leviticus speaks about different forms of redemption in the legal sense. It mentions the rights — or even commandments — of...

Pesach: The Pele(wonder) of Pesach — “And It Makes Me Wonder” ~ Tzvi Abrahams

פֶּלֶא: wonder נְפִילָה: falling פִּיל: elephant תְּפִילָה: prayer הִפְלָה: separate, distinctive פֶּלֶא: Wonder There are foolish people...

Pesach: Jumping for Passover (Part 2/2) ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

We mentioned in Part 1 that the Hebrew name for the holiday of Passover is Pesach and the sacrifice associated with that holiday is...

Pesach: Jumping for Passover (Part 1/2) ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The Hebrew name for the holiday of Passover is Pesach. The Paschal Sacrifice with which the holiday is associated is likewise known as...

Purim: All in the Name of the King! ~ Tzvi Abrahams

Purim טֶבַע: nature מַטְבֵּעַ: coin לִטְבּוֹעַ: to drown, sink טַבַּעַת: ring טֶבַע: Nature If you have ever witnessed a total solar...

Purim: Party Hearty ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

Each of the three meals that we eat on Shabbat (Tractate Shabbat 117b) is called a seudah. On Purim we also have a festive meal, but that...

Chanukah: Chinuch and Chanukah, Walking with Hashem ~ Tzvi Abrahams

Chanukahחַנֻכָּה Chinuch and Chanukah, Walking with Hashem חִנוּךְ: beginning חַנוֹךְ: Chanoch חִנוּךְ: education חַנֻכָּה: Chanukah...

Behaalotacha: Pesach Sheni, Absent-Minded Passover? ~ Yehoshua Steinberg

This week's Torah portion discusses the highly unusual opportunity to fulfil a biblical precept -the Passover offering- who's...

Shelach/Yom Kippur: Pardon Me? ~ Yehoshua Steinberg

Shelach: Pardon Me? לע“נשלמהבנימיןבןרפאלתנצב“ה Three words are used to generally describe forgiveness and atonement: סליחה, מחילה, כפרה....

Sukkot: Gog’s Impervious Roof Versus Israel’s Flimsy Thatched Sukkah ~ Yehoshua Steinber

Sukkot: Gog’s Impervious Roof Versus Israel’s Flimsy Thatched Sukkah (The following is in the main an adaptation of Rabbi S. R. Hirsch’s...

Pesach: Is Pesach really Passover? ~ Yehoshua Steinberg

Merciful Skipping שמ’ יב:יג – וראיתי את הדם ופסחתי עלכם. Ex. 12:13 – I will see the blood and pass over you. מכילתא (בא פרשה ז): וראיתי...

Pesach: Geula – Emancipation or Expulsion? ~ Yehoshua Steinberg

You Can Take Slaves out of the country, but… The Zohar Chadash tells of two types of salvation in Egypt: זוהר חדש (פ’ יתרו, דף נב.): אני...

Rosh Hashanah: The Shofar’s Blast and Satan’s Crash ~ Yehoshua Steinberg

The Talmud(1) states: למה תוקעין ומריעין כשהן יושבין, ותוקעין ומריעין כשהן עומדין? כדי לערבב השטן. Why (do the Jews) blow the shofar...

Pesach: Attack of the Locust ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The eighth of ten plagues which G-d brought upon the Egyptians in the lead-up to the Exodus was the Plague of Arbeh — locust. Locust is...

Coronavirus: Plague of Plagues ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The fifth plague that G-d had wrought upon the Egyptians is known as dever. In English this word is commonly translated as “pestilence”,...

Shavuos: The Festival of Weeks ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The Festival of Shavuot is known under many different names. Although these names are all synonyms for the holiday, each name focuses on...

Pesach: Jumping for Joy! ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

The Hebrew name for the holiday of Passover is Pesach. The Paschal Sacrifice with which the holiday is associated is likewise known as...

Shavuos: Sinai by Another Name ~ Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

We are all probably familiar with the name of the site of the greatest mass revelation of G-d’s existence — Mount Sinai. However,...