A Jewish Table vs. Achashverosh’s Table If you are like me, sometimes you neglect to sing zemirot and include a dvar Torah at Shabbat and

On Beitza 19a, Rava encounters a group of talmidei chachamim, namely the “rabbanan devei Rav,” interpreting a troublesome brayta detailing a dispute between a tanna

Parashat Ha’azinu The haftarah that we read this Shabbat is one that is not read every year, but only when there is a Shabbat between

What does a speaker do when he wants to get the attention of an audience that’s not so interested? A few years ago, New Jersey

Jewish holidays celebrate framing moments of national destiny. Pesach recalls our liberation from Egypt while Shavuot re-dramatizes our selection at Sinai. By contrast, the holiday

A father set out one day to teach his young daughter a powerful lesson. When she woke up in the morning he took her in

The commandment to sit in the sukkah is rather unusual. We fulfill the mitzvah of “You shall live in the sukkah for seven days” (Vayikra

Judaism has two major week-long holidays, but one goes largely unobserved in the Diaspora. While the Passover Seder has become a touchstone of Jewish identity,

The word לולב never appears in Tanach. It is a word from rabbinic Hebrew. But what is its origin? Most scholars believe it derives from

The poor aravah branch, lowest on the arba minim totem pole: unfairly contrasted with the magnificent esrog, the tall and stately lulav, and the fragrant