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Sukkot: Dating Lessons in Vulnerability and Unity
On Sukkot, we leave the security of our homes and move into a temporary dwelling, bestowing on it the trust and confidence of a permanent residence. While we may garnish it with beautiful adornments, it remains a hut, usually with fragile roofing and flimsy walls. In this Sukkot abode, we are expected to eat, study…
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Sukkot: Insights on the Four Species
We take basic natural items and use them as part of our service of Hashem…
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The Halachot of Rosh Hashanah
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah we do “hatarat nedarim” (the undoing of vows). A woman who cannot do so before a bet din may appoint her husband, or any other person, to perform it on her behalf. Two candles are lit on each day of Rosh Hashanah. One must be careful to leave a…
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A New Reading of the Book of Life
Each new year offers an opportunity to take pen in hand and write differently…
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A Feminine Perspective on the Shofar
The shofar physically resembles the birth canal…
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Blowing the Shofar: Confusing the Satan?
The widespread custom in the month of Elul is to blow the shofar everyday, in order to awaken us to teshuva. We also blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah itself, the fulfillment of a mitzvah from the Torah. The Rema tells us that we do not blow shofar the day before Rosh Hashana, which the…
