These were two exhilarating days in TABC’s Y11C shiur. First, we delved deeply into the Tanur Shel Achnai incident, where the majority opinion of the Chachamim overrides the Bat Kol (voice from heaven), supporting the lenient view of Rabi Eliezer. But most shocking is Hashem’s smiling approval of our dissent.

Parshat Shemot

The 27th perek of Sefer Yishayahu, the chapter that opens this week’s haftarah, is actually the last of three perakim in which Yishayahu closes a series of prophecies addressed to the idolatrous nations of the world by warning them of the punishments that Hashem will rain down upon

Last week, the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island erupted, sending smoldering debris and thick mud in all directions. The sudden eruption spewed thick columns of ash more than 40,000 feet into the air, causing searing gas and lava to flow uninhibitedly down its slopes. Several villages were blanketed with falling

Megillah 14a contains discussions of reciting Hallel for miracles, such as Purim, which happened in the Diaspora. It begins with a citation by Rabbi Chiya b. Avin, a third-generation Amora and student of Rav Huna who traveled between Bavel and Israel. He cites Rabbi Yehoshua b. Korcha, who draws a kal vachomer from the exodus from Egypt. If upon the

In this week’s parsha we are introduced to Moshe Rabbeinu as a child, and we find that even seemingly inconsequential details about his development have so much to teach us.

After Moshe is retrieved from the Nile by Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, the Torah (2:7) tells us that Moshe’s sister, Miriam,

1. We all know the verb חרף with its meanings like “reproach” and “taunt,” and the related noun חרפה: disgrace, shame.

2. But what about the season חרף? What meaning underlies this word?

Whenever I hear the word חרף, living here in the northeast

I always picture Sari smiling. For twelve years, no matter the place or circumstance, whenever I saw Sari, she would smile at me. I first met Sari Shalmon in March of 2008. My husband and I were in the process of making a big life decision about where to settle with our family and I was spending the day observing at a school, RPRY. Rabbi

In schools, we often believe that our job is to teach our students to become ethical people and responsible members of society by cultivating virtuous traits and helping them to leave behind those attributes of their characters that are not quite as admirable. A look at the life of Moshe, however, which begins with this week’s reading of

This past Asarah B’Tevet we gathered to bury Rabbi Joseph Reifman at a graveside funeral attended by family and a few close friends. Because of COVID and the need for a speedy burial, there wasn’t sufficient time to properly offer kavod acharon. Rav Yeshaya Siff, the long-time mara d’atra of the Young Israel of Manhattan

Much has been written about the Jewish community in Kiryat Arba and Hebron, but I would like to share three personal memories of Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, of blessed memory, who was among the founders of the renewed Jewish community in the city of our forefathers, who passed away on December 18.

Reprinted with permission from Jewish Action, the magazine of the Orthodox Union, vol. 82, no. 2 (winter 2021).

One of the most troubling findings to emerge from the 2020 Pew study as contributors to the previous symposium indicated, is that 33% of Jews raised as Orthodox do not continue to identify with

There are teachers and there are educators. And once in a while, a visionary comes along with a dream to transform an entire education system. Manhattan native Beverly Gribetz is all of the above.

Gribetz studied education in New York before making aliyah in 1977. Her first education