Tag: Yom Kippur
-
After weeks of inner growth from Elul through Yom Kippur, we arrive at Sukkot — when everything spiritual becomes real. On Rosh Hashanah we crowned Hashem as King. On Yom Kippur we were purified. And on Sukkot, we live that connection through emunah — stepping out of our solid homes into Hashem’s shade, trusting His…
-
In this week’s parsha, Nitzavim, the Torah tells us: “And you shall return to Hashem your God, and listen to His voice… with all your heart and all your soul” (Devarim 30:2). Notice — the pasuk doesn’t say “return from sin”, but “return to Hashem.” Teshuva is not about running away from suffering or punishment.…
-
Why Do We Say Vidui on Erev Yom Kippur? Something about Erev Yom Kippur seems really out of place. Let me explain. Over Yom Kippur, we said vidui, the confession of sins, nine times. But what seems out of place is that one of those times is during Mincha before we eat our final meal…
-
As a child, Rosh Hashana felt like an endless marathon of prayers. I’d sit on an uncomfortable folding chair in the overflow section of the social hall, which they’d open up to accommodate the extra crowd for the Yamim Noraim. Fidgeting in my seat, I’d flip through the machzor, counting the pages left, then cutting…
-
There’s a powerful line we sing in Shabbos zemer “Ma Yedidut”. When singing about the beauty of Shabbat, we say “Kashoshanim suga,”, Shabbat is “like roses that are fenced in.” Think about that—a rose, fragile and beautiful, needs a fence to protect it. Shabbos is no different. It’s sacred not just because of what it…
-
Years ago, I was faced with a daunting realization: every Jewish man has the obligation to learn the entire Torah. For someone like me, who wasn’t the strongest learner growing up, this felt like trying to scale a mountain without training. But what if I told you that sometimes the biggest accomplishments come not from…
