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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…
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The Interconnection between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
Rosh Chodesh Elul marks the beginning of our focus on teshuva, leading up to the Yamim Noraim and the Aseret Yemei Teshuva. Sephardi communities begin to recite selichot – penitential prayers – from Rosh Chodesh Elul. Throughout the Jewish world, Elul takes on solemn character, marked by Cheshbon HaNefesh (self-accounting) and repairing our relationships between…
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Ha’azinu: Tapping into the Holy Dew
Parshat Ha’azinu is a song filled with poetic language about the Jewish people’s journey with Hashem, and the ups and downs throughout their history. The Torah takes us back in time to our days in the desert, reflecting upon Hashem’s desire for us as well as criticizing us for complacency and times we abandoned our…
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3 Ways to Co-Create Your New Year
Elul is here, and the eagerness to welcome the New Year is filling the air. Besides the sense of newness that “nature” so graciously gives us, including changing leaves, a crisp, cool breeze to break the summer heat, and for many, starting back in school and the post-summer grind, we also benefit from the palpable…
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The Shabbat Queen: The Life and Legacy of Henny Machlis
She began as an ordinary girl from Brooklyn—yet her life would ascend to extraordinary spiritual heights, placing her among the truly righteous. Who was Henny Machlis, and how did she accomplish so much in just 59 years? Born in 1950 in the United States, Henny was raised in a home that nurtured purpose, Chesed, and…
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Nitzavim-Vayelech: Circumcision of the Heart
וּמָ֨ל ה אֱלֹ-הֶ֛יךָ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֖ וְאֶת־לְבַ֣ב זַרְעֶ֑ךָ לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־ה אֱלֹ-הֶ֛יךָ And Hashem, your G-d will open your heart and the heart of your descendants to love Hashem your G-d… (Devarim 30:6) This verse describes the closeness that will be achieved between Hashem and the Jewish people following their teshuva (return), to righteousness. An interesting word is…
