The Four Days After Yom Kippur
I’m davening maariv, the evening prayer, immediately following the final moments of Yom Kippur. We’ve not broken the fast, we’ve not even done havdalah, but as I’m praying, all I […]
From Ominous And Dark To Bright And Light – Return… Return – By Marc
Tonight is Kol Nidre. Tomorrow is Yom Kippur. As a young lad in a Conservative Shul, whose family only went to services on the High Holy Days, there was a […]
Yom Kippur – The Maybe Mindset — By Ben
Yom Kippur is upon us once again. A looooooooong day of fasting, fretting, apologizing… we all know the drill by now. But in all seriousness, Yom Kippur is a tremendously […]
Nitzavim – No More Excuses on Rosh Hashanah
As we approach the high holidays, the final parshas of the Torah are often overlooked in place of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur ideas. But there’s a reason we read […]
Apples, Honey And Paradigm Shift For Rosh Hashanah – By Marc
At our monthly Mensch Night at Chabad Of West Hills we did an exercise where we were asked to define Hashem in five words. Mine were: Everything, All-Powerful, Energy, Infinite […]
Rosh Hashana – Call of the Shofar — By Ben
With Rosh Hashana fast approaching we can all get ready for hours of sitting and standing, letting our minds wander, counting how many pages are left in the service, and […]
Put Your Trust In Him – By Marc
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that there is a struggle afoot. I am certainly not the only one, and I know that there are […]
The Torah Lets Us Have War Brides? — By Ben
Man does this week’s parsha start with a troubling concept. If you should go to war against your enemies and Hashem your God puts them into your hand, and you […]
What A Difference A Word Makes (The Nuances Of Hebrew) – By Marc
I learned enough Hebrew to get through my Bar Mitzvah… and then, when that was done, much of it left my brain. The prayers stayed in there, but the meaning […]
Bribes, Bias, and Blindspots — By Ben
We all understand that judges and public officials probably shouldn’t take bribes. As the definitive example of corruption, it tilts the scales of justice towards the rich, clouds judgment, and […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 