In these weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, there is a widely practiced custom to study Pirkei Avot--the Chapters or Ethics of the Fathers. Some even extend this practice until Rosh Hashana; instead of having one round of study, they complete Avot four times. more

This week, in America, you will read the double portion of Acharei-Mot-Kedoshim which, translated literally, means “after the death of the holy ones,” a meaning that was all too appropriate last week when we were reading the same double portion, as it fell on the Shabbat immediately following Israel’s Memorial and Independence days: Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut. more

Dedicated to the memory of the Israeli soldiers whose selfless sacrifice gave and gives us a State we can call our own. more

Due to their not (yet) having been translated by the Jewish publishing houses, much of the midrashic library is a treasure-trove of untouched gemstone mines. more

Any serious student of history will recognize that there are moments, all too rare, when a door stands open, waiting for a person, a people, or even the entire world to walk through, and change life as we know it, forever. more

According to my Concordance, the root word “kosher” appears three times in the Bible (in Esther and Ecclesiastes) – not once in the Torah. more

Walk in to any Jewish home and ask yourself: what distinguishes it as a Jewish home? There is actually no ritual, biblical obligation concerning the Jewish home, save one: the mezuzah. more

There are differences of opinion as to the origin of the word Afikoman--the most common suggestion I’ve seen is that it is a Greek term--and, as far as its translation goes, while it is not entirely clear, it is largely considered to mean “dessert.” more

There are moments in time one needs to forget. And yet, so often, these same moments, we really need to remember. Such a moment came into my life on August 9th (the twentieth of Av) 2001. more

Whenever I come across the word "v'nikhrita" (and he/she/they will be cut off from the Jewish people) in the Torah, I marvel over where such a notion stands in the 21st century world that defines how we live. more