Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are festivals that ask us how we have lived thus far. Have we drifted? Have we been travelling to the wrong destination? Does the way we live give us a sense of … more

In a few days we will be standing before Hashem on Rosh Hashana. Each of us will ask our Creator’s forgiveness for sins we committed over the course of the preceding year. Since this is the … more

Sometimes even the corniest of old jokes has a profound lesson to teach us.   “How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?” “Just one. But it has to … more

Arguably the most enigmatic of the names of Rosh Hashana is Yom Hazikaron. What is being remembered and who is remembering? When we read through the selichot, particularly those of the Aseret … more

The former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks, has come in for some stick over remarks he recently made about religion and politics. In an interview with JTA published in last … more

Parashat Nitzavim contains a celebrated pasuk that proclaims the ready accessibility of the Torah: “Lo bashamayim he” (It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up … more

There is quite a bit of sadness attached to this Sabbath, the last of the year. Sure, we look forward to a new year with new blessings and new opportunities. But we cannot escape the fact that … more

I hadn’t planned on stopping to watch, but something about him caught my attention. It was Tisha B’Av, the anniversary of the day our Temples were destroyed, the city of … more

The Talmud gives an ingenious reading to the line, “Moses commanded us a Torah, as a heritage of the congregation of Israel.” Noting that there are 613 commands, and that the … more

There was a time when the literary treasures of the Jewish people were accessible only to those with a reading knowledge of Hebrew. This is no longer the case. I must confess that when this … more