People frequently ask why Elisha’s oil miracle for the widow (first part of Melachim II 4) is included in the haftarah of Parshat Vayera. After

xA Relish for Avodat Hashem When taking my older children to visit the celebrated American Revolutionary War site Valley Forge, the guide taught us the

A very troubling statement indeed! It was this past Chol Hamoed when my sons and I visited an out-of-town synagogue for Mincha/Arvit. A congregant between

Even most Sephardic Jews have not heard of Rav Ovadia Hedaya. Yet, Chacham Hedaya played and continues to play a crucial role in Sephardic life.

Are there situations when Ashkenazic Jews follow the ruling of Rav Yosef Karo as recorded in the Shulchan Aruch and Sephardic Jews do not? The

Tarshish. Where is it? Chapter 1, Pasuk 3, of Sefer Yonah names Tarshish as the place Yonah sought to flee. Clearly there must be some

The question itself is shocking. Radak, a premier commentator, asks why the Tanach (Torah, Prophets, and Writings) would bother to include a nevuah (prophecy) directed

Is this true? Yonah 3:3 describes Nineveh as an exceedingly great city, a three days’ journey. The Gemara (Pesachim 94b) states that an average person

It is possible that if the rabbanim feel that the local merchants are taking advantage of the Jewish community and overcharging for various religious-based needs,

How incongruous for a column for Parshat Shoftim to address challenging authority. After all, in Parashat Shoftim we are commanded to listen to whatever the

This coming Shabbat we are faced with a dilemma as to which haftarah to read. On the one hand, Chazal (Megillah 31a) teach that on

Finally we have an opportunity for some clarity on a murky topic that affects all of us at some time in our lives. For years