Rabbi Mordechai Becher’s VLog on Rosh Hashanah 5774
The Inner Voice Rabbi Becher explains how the shofar is both a prayer and also unifying voice of the Jewish people. View this video directly on VIMEO
The Inner Voice Rabbi Becher explains how the shofar is both a prayer and also unifying voice of the Jewish people. View this video directly on VIMEO
“For this mitzvah is not far from you; it is not in heaven that you shall say ‘Who will ascend for us to the heavens…’” (Deuteronomy 30:11) Nachmanides states in his commentary that this verse refers to the positive commandment of repentance. He cites two other verses as sources for this mitzvah: “…you shall return…
Rosh Hashanah is G-d’s coronation day and also the birthday of mankind. Both are important to keep in mind as we enter the Courtroom of Heaven. View this video directly on VIMEO
National Responsibility Taking responsibility for each other is what binds the Jewish together. The covenant in the parsha is the covenant that makes every Jew a “guarantor” for each other. View this video directly on VIMEO
The Jewish calendar begins with the month of Nissan, the month in which the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt, the month in which we celebrate Passover. The Torah designates the months by number only, not by name: this month is called the “first of months.” Nissan marks the beginning of Jewish history because the…
The Jews are commanded to take the first fruits from the signature species of the land of Israel and bring them, in a celebratory procession, up to the Temple Mount. What’s all the fuss about some fruit? View this video directly on VIMEO
Happiness Rabbi Becher explains that happiness is not a single peak, but a series of summits each higher than the previous one. View this video directly on VIMEO
The central mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah, and the defining feature of this festival in the Torah is the sounding of the shofar. We begin to practice for this mitzvah by blowing the shofar every day of the month preceding Rosh Hashanah. A hollowed-out ram’s horn is blown to produce sounds known as tekiah, shevarim, and…
We spend so much time preparing for bar mitzvas. But what happens next? View this video directly on VIMEO
I was recently in China and visited the old Jewish community in Kaifeng. I bought as a souvenir a bright-blue, handmade,silk yarmulke with Chinese characters on it (which I don’t plan on wearing, its way to garish.) Walking around in a place where almost no one at all wears a yarmulke makes one more aware…