One of the manifold changes of modernity is manifest in the modern methods of food preparation. No…
Sukkah 41: Offering Comfort on Sukkot
Those who have sat shiva know that the weeks after shiva can be much harder than the shiva…
Sukkah 41: An Expensive Lulav
It was not long ago that it was hard to find a minyan of people with a lulav and etrog in shul…
Ki Tavo: Year-End Readings
Observance of religious precepts is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Just because one is…
Sukkah 41: My Own Lulav
One of the unique laws of the arba minim, the four species, is that one can only fulfil the…
Ki Teitzei: Reach for the Top
One of the beautiful aspects of the Torah is its setting of high, perhaps even unattainable,…
Sukkah 28: Nice Guys Finish First
Rabbi Yochanan ben HaChoranit must have been a great Sage. I imagine that many reading this devar…
Shoftim: A Beautiful Animal
“Do not sacrifice to G-d, your Lord, an ox or sheep that has a blemish; any bad thing, it is an…
Sukkah 28: A "Weak" Student
To state that Rav Yochanan ben Zakai is one of the most important leaders in all of Jewish history…
Sukkah 26: Snack Time
One of the requirements of a sukkah is that it be a dirat arai, a temporary dwelling. A…
Re'eh: It's Elul Time
"For the sin that we have sinned before You through hardness of the heart." With…
Sukkah 20: A Great Servant
Psychologists have long known that two people can—and often do—see the exact same thing, and yet…
Eikev: Missing Commandments
Had things gone according to plan, the chumash would be a much shorter book. If not for…
Tu B'Av: The Happiest Day
“Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days more joyous than the 15th of Av (Tu B'Av) and…
VaEtchanan: An Extra And
"Shamor v’Zachor b’dibur echad". This phrase, sung every Friday night, notes the most famous…
Tisha B'Av: Greetings and Salutations
Judaism places great emphasis on the proper greeting of people. The Talmudic term for a greeting, a…
Devarim: The Beginning of the End
"Eleh Hadevarim, these are the words that Moshe spoke to all of Israel" (Devarim 1:1). In Biblical…
Sukkah 2: Looking Skyward
“A sukkah that is taller than 20 amot, cubits (approximately 30 feet), is invalid; and…