Once again it’s the time of the year we search for inspiration in order to improve aspects of ourselves and our lives. Rosh Chodesh begins the long process extending throughout the month, culminating on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The wailing sound of the shofar, which is meant to stir our souls and awaken us to grow

Editor’s note: This was a drasha delivered by Rabbi Schiowitz at Teaneck’s Congregation Shaare Tefillah on Shabbat, August 19.

 I would like to begin with a yasher koach to members of our community who have been standing in a respectful and compelling manner, opposing the anti-Semitism

In this week’s parsha, Shoftim, we read about God’s commandment that a person should be “tamim” with God. But what does that mean and how is the obligation satisfied? There are a number of views on the meaning of the word tamim and how to fulfill this obligation.

Onkelos translates the

Tisha B’Av, the most tragic day in the Jewish calendar, is a day full of sadness. We observe the strictest traditions of personal and collective mourning, sit on the floor and read lamentations, remove all of the finer dressings from our synagogues and even do not put on tefillin in the morning—to show our unworthiness to wear

Over Kashrut of Contemporary Toothpaste

May this special post be an ilui neshama (merit for the soul) of my dear mother, Mrs. Joan Maybruch, Yocheved Pesha bat Hillel, z”l, on her yahrzeit.

Is Kosher Toothpaste a Paradox?

Parshat Devarim

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is common wisdom, but the Torah, in this week’s parsha, tells us how to properly judge. The pasuk in Parshat Devarim states, “You shall not favor persons [lit. you shall not recognize a face] in judgment, you shall hear the small just as the

God writes in His holy Torah, “See I have placed before you today, the life and the good, the death and the evil, good and evil and you should choose life… And you choose life.” (Deuteronomy 30, 15, 19)

Life is full of choices, and the choices we make could either create light or

It was just four days before Pesach when my phone rang. My father was calling to let me know that he and my mom wouldn’t be joining us for Pesach. He said he was having some “circulatory issues” and would be having additional testing during Chol Hamoed. When I pressed about his condition I got no answers, just that the doctor

“Other than the Creator, there is nothing.”—

Yehoshua Bin Nun, Aleinu

Sure, you are huge. I mean, you are 10 billion times larger than a hydrogen atom. You surely have every right to feel in control, never mind super-significant. And,

“We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but Hashem our God took us out from there with a strong hand and outstretched arm. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, hadn’t taken our ancestors out of Egypt, we and our children and grandchildren would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt…”

Who would you make “the face of the Jewish people”? Would it be Yaakov Avinu, whose face was engraved on the Throne of Glory? Would it be Moshe Rabbeinu or David Hamelech? Choose as you will, the Gemara (Sukkah 5b) tells us that the face of the keruvim(cherubs) that represented the Jewish people on the covering of the

When Hashem told Moshe to collect a machatzit hashekel (a certain coin) from every Jew over the age of 20, He commanded: “ Zeh yitnu”—This is what they should give.” Citing the Midrash Tanchuma, Rashi indicates that whenever the Torah says “Zeh—this” it is specifying an area of complexity that can only be