Why We Really Fast on Yom Kippur – By Ben
As we approach Yom Kippur tomorrow night, I wanted to relate an extraordinary teaching given by the Rosh Yeshiva of Shapell’s Darche Noam. It was a comprehensive lesson that I’m […]
Category Archives: Holidays
Searching For Solid And Common Ground – By Marc
If you’re like me, you go into this period looking for some real insight… something to move you forward and into the New Year with renewed energy and faith. […]
Rosh Hashana – Five Years’ Difference — By Ben
It was 2012 Exactly five years ago this Rosh Hashana. I’m at the Aish Explanatory High Holiday service in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The Rabbi is marching around the bimah, […]
Our Souls Compose… Orchestrating The New Year – By Marc
There is so much to say… so much to write about this holiday. But I will allow the words of my very wise mentor, teacher and friend to lead me […]
Making True Peace is Not About Being Silent – By Barbara Heller
Sometime in mid-Av, 5777 or July of 2017, I found myself walking and sweating profusely in the streets of Tiberias (Northern Israel) and I sat down to write the following […]
We Are SO NOT In Control… The Humbling Power Of Humility – By Marc
“Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.” Some may remember a take on this quote from Willy Wonka […]
Tisha B’Av, A Day To Really Connect To Our Sadness – By Marc
I am posting today, in anticipation of Tisha B’Av starting this evening. The word holiday implies a celebration. In Europe, you go ON Holiday (here, we call it vacation). So […]
3 Weeks, 9 Days, and 1 Hell of a Fast (Devarim) — By Ben
So I’ve been in Israel a little over two weeks now. Due to an unpredictable set of circumstances I’ve decided to study in a Yeshiva for 3 months. The dorms […]
Shavuos – Letting Yourself Ask for Help — By Ben
I’ve worked in restaurants on and off since college. The job can be tremendously stressful, hectic, and in the midst of the dinner rush, can feel like war. Imagine that 3 […]
Hod. The Link between Pesach Sheni, Lag B’Omer, and Manna from Heaven. – By Ben
We’re in a really odd time right now in the Jewish calendar. Between Pesach and Shavuos is a what’s known as the counting of the Omer. For 49 days we count each […]
