Articles in the Jewish Thought Category
Featured, Festivals, Jewish Thought, Rosh Hashana »
Rosh HaShanah is a strange mix of emotions. The day is almost schizophrenic. Even the melodies of the Chazzan ride up and down an emotional rollercoaster. In the morning, we evoke the fear of the day and exclaim: “…and from the fright of the judgement my soul trembles…” “…Angels will hasten, a trembling and terror will seize them…behold it is the Day of Judgment.” Then we return home from the Synagogue, dip apples in honey and eat a festive meal!
How should we feel on Rosh HaShanah? Is it a day …
Audio, Featured, Jewish Law, Jewish Thought »
An honest look at the role of chumra (stringency) in Jewish Law & Life.
Audio, Featured, Festivals, Jewish Thought, Shavuot »
A famous yet difficult passage in the Talmud expresses how we relate to God and His Holy Torah.
Audio, Featured, Festivals, Israel, Jewish Thought, Yom HaAtzmaut »
Reflections on Yom HaAtzmaut 5771, given at Beit Knesset Kol Rina, Nachlaot, Jerusalem.
Featured, Jewish Thought, Parsha, Shemot, Va'eira »
This Shabbat we read the Four Expressions of Redemption (or, Four Redemptions), Exodus 6:6-7, which serve as the source for the Four Cups of wine at the Pesach Seder (Rashi to TB Pesachim 99b; TY Pesachim 10:1; Bereishit Rabbah 88).
What follows is a fifth expression, “And I will bring you to the Land…”So why don’t we drink a fifth cup of wine at the Seder?
1) According to one version of a beraitta in Pesachim 118a, we should indeed have five cups (Rambam, Rif, Ba’al HaMaor, Ra’avad to Rif), the fifth …
Festivals, Jewish Law, Jewish Thought, Purim »
Original and insightful essays (in Hebrew) about the festival of Purim.
Mishteh Shimshon 5770
Audio, Bereishit, Featured, Jewish Thought, Parsha »
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?
Audio, Bereishit, Featured, Jewish Thought, Parsha »
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?
Audio, Featured, Jewish Law, Jewish Thought »
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.
Featured, Festivals, Jewish Thought, Yom Kippur »
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: …
