A Chassidic story: A wealthy merchant would regularly visit the Baal Shem Tov and would donate large sums of money for the Rebbe’s charitable causes. Eventually his fortune changed and his business failed, leaving him nearly penniless. When he went to visit the Rebbe again the Baal Shem, undoubtedly aware of the man’s dire...
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It was told that in the shul of the great Chassidic Master, the Chozeh (Seer) of Lublin, they sang and danced on the night of Rosh Hashanah. When the Misnagdim, the anti-Chassidic proponents, heard of this they were taken aback. How could the so called great Rebbe allow dancing on the awesome Day of...
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The Talmud tells us that the two happiest days in the Jewish calendar are Yom Kippur and the fifteenth of Av (Tu B’Av) because on those days the single woman of Jerusalem would go out into the vineyards wearing borrowed (so as not to embarrass the poorer girls) white dresses and call out to...
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I recently heard the following Torah thought, from a local UWS rabbi, to answer the question of why the Sukkot holiday directly follows Rosh Hahsana and Yom Kippur. He quoted a Midrashic source that explains that since there exists the possibility that the Jewish nation was judged unfavorably and deserving of Galut (exile), we...
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Today I built a Sukkah on the terrace of our apartment, on the 18th floor of a Manhattan building. The views from the terrace are stunning. Unfortunately, I’m afraid of heights. I still enjoy the views, but only from several feet behind the railing. I envy those guests who walk right up to the...
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A Chassidic story: A wealthy merchant would regularly visit the Baal Shem Tov and would donate large sums of money for the Rebbe’s charitable causes. Eventually his fortune changed and his business failed, leaving him nearly penniless. When he went to visit the Rebbe again the Baal Shem, undoubtedly aware of the man’s dire...
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This Wednesday night, we will observe Tisha B’av, the day on which both of our holy temples in Jerusalem were destroyed. It is a time of sadness, mourning, and reflection. It’s really almost impossible to feel true sadness and loss for a Temple that has been gone for nearly 2ooo years. No one ever...
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Many Jewish ceremonies can only be performed in the presence of a Minyan — a quorum of ten adult Jewish males. The same is true of certain prayers, such as Kaddish, as well as the reading of the Torah. The Minyan represents a core cummunity. The source in the Torah that teaches us that...
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I recently was searching for a spot in the Mamilla parking lot in Jerusalem. Empty parking spots were scarce, and the traffic in the lot was building. I let a driver merge into the lane in front of me seconds before a spot opened up. The driver quickly moved into position to snag the...
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The command to observe the Shabbat is almost always prefaced by the statement, “you shall do your work for six days etc.” Why the need for this prologue related to the regular week? Why doesn’t the Torah just tell us about the actual day of Shabbat? One possible reason is that the Torah is...
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