Rabbi Shimshon Nadel will be in the US this July for a speaking tour.
A recent oleh, Rabbi Nadel lives in Jerusalem where he teaches Torah, inspired by the Land and its People. He hosts the popular radio show “Soul Matters” on Israel National Radio. Before making aliyah, he served as a synagogue Rabbi in Nebraska and Connecticut. As a lecturer and musician, he toured North America inspiring audiences of diverse Jewish backgrounds.
In addition to essays on Jewish Law and Philosophy, he publishes a column on the weekly …

In our study of Torah, how are we we to view the Avot and other Biblical figures? Are they to be put on a pedestal? Are they infallible? Or, are they human beings like us, and subject to human frailty?

The Sages teach in the Midrashic and Talmudic literature that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob kept all 613 mitzvot of the Torah. How are we to understand this?

Outside of the Land of Israel, there is a prevelant custom to recite Kiddush in the Synagogue on Friday Night. Rabbi Nadel explores why the custom is different in Eretz Yisrael.

At Minchah on Yom HaKippurim we read the Book of Yonah. It is a story beloved by young and old. My little boys even studied it this year in pre-school! It is story that captures our minds and hearts and is as relevant today as it was when written.
At its very essence, it is a message of teshuvah: The people of Nineveh are told that if they continue on their path, “In forty days Nineveh shall be overturned” (3:4). Their response? Fasting and repentance: …

There are many profound explanations that explore the symbolism of the mitzvah of tekiat shofar. One of the more famous expositions is that of Rambam. He writes:
Even though the sounding of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah is a decree, it contains an allusion. As if to say, ‘Wake up you sleepers from your slumber and dreamers from your sleep. Inspect your deeds, repent and remember your Creator…
(Hilchot Teshuvah 3:4)
According to Rambam the sounding of the shofar is a spiritual alarm clock. Something we all could …

High Holiday nusach, and of course- the taste of apples and honey. As a child, I would wait with anticipation as Rosh HaShanah approached- looking forward to dipping apples in honey. It is a significant religious experience for children: A tradition sweet to the palate, with its symbolism concrete enough, even a small child can understand. There are even songs that memorialize this ritual.
Eating apples with honey, along with other “simanei milta – significant omens,” is an age old custom rooted in a statement in …

Return again, return again, return to the land of your soul…
- Reb Shlomo Carlebach
Parshat Nitzavim contains the “Parsha of Teshuvah.” After describing the punishments that will befall the Jewish People should they stray from God, the Torah describes a process of Teshuvah, return:
And it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, then you shall take it to heart among all the nations, where Hashem your God has dispersed you. And you shall return unto …

Anxiety begins to set in as the Yemei Hadin, the Days of Judgment, quickly approach. The month of Elul beckons us to do teshuvah: to return to Hashem, His Torah and mitzvot. The shofar is sounded each day, blaring like a six am alarm clock; waking us up to make amends, ask for forgiveness, and forgive.
This is time for personal reflection.
The selichot prayers also wake us up- literally and figuratively. Selichot, the additional service that begins this Saturday Night for those who follow the Ashkenazic practice, …

The school year has just begun. As parents, our children’s education is a top priority. As Jews, our concern is not just with the material that is covered, but the subtler elements of education: what is imbued in our children, Torah values, moral development; the affective level of education.
Every seven years, during the festival of Sukkot, the entire Jewish People are commanded to gather together for “hakhel,” a special mitzvah performed in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The King would read selections from the book of Devarim as …