Day of Purification Though we generally associate Yom Kippur with atonement, the Torah defines tahara, purification, as the day’s goal: (כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם

Question: Is it permitted/proper to take pills before Yom Kippur that improve one’s fasting on Yom Kippur? Answer: Clearly, while the Torah commands “v’initem et

An exploration of the nature of the kedushat hayom of Yom Kippur. For most of my life I have been under the impression that Yom

There is a mitzvah of joy on every Yom Tov (see Pesachim 109a and Rambam Hilchot Yom Tov 6:17-18), so why should Rosh Hashanah and

The noun “נפשׁ” occurs over 700 times in Tanach. The word has a range of meanings including: person, life, life-force, breath, desire and appetite. (For

Ever have a neighbor that unnerves you? I have. She has scared my kids many times with her loud noises and threatening tone whenever they’re

For almost two months, beginning on Rosh Chodesh Elul and continuing through the Yamim Noraim and Sukkot, we add the paragraph of L’Dovid Hashem Ori

We have all heard of the proverb mentioned in the title above. It is attributed to Alexander Pope who wrote it in a poem in

Yom Kippur “Kol makom she’ata motzeh g’dulato shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu—sham ata motzeh anvatanuto..” In Masechet Megilla (31a) Rabbi Yochanan teaches us: “Wherever you find

In Ketubot 84a, a mishna relates a dispute between Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva. If Reuven dies and leaves a widow, a creditor, and heirs

ויאמר mehsaH אֶל משֶׁה הִנְּךָ שֹׁכֵב עִם אֲבֹתֶיךָ וְקָם הָעָם הַזֶּה וְזָנָה אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹ’ נֵכַר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר הוּא בָא שָׁמָּה בְּקִרְבּוֹ וַעֲזָבַנִי וְהֵפֵר אֶת בְּרִיתִי

Sometime during the spring, my wife handed me a brand-new set of barbecue instruments she had just purchased so that I could tovel (immerse) them