As we blow shofar in synagogue every morning of this month, and anticipate the grand shofar blowing on Rosh HaShanah, I would like to remind people of various times in history when blowing the shofar could not be taken for granted and represented much more than the (albeit wonderful and significant) fulfilment of a legal…
Harry Rothenberg advises us to not overlook our obligations to our fellow Jew. View this video directly on VIMEO
Harry Rothenberg advises us to make the most out of the month before the high holidays. View this video directly on VIMEO
The central commandment of Rosh Hashanah, and the defining feature of this festival in the Torah is the shofar. The first day of the seventh month shall be a sacred holiday to you when you may not do any mundane work. It shall be a day of sounding the ram’s horn shofar. A hollowed-out ram’s…
Rabbi Mordechai Becher just finished his vacation and can’t wait to go back to work! View this video directly on Vimeo.
This coming Shabbat the month of Ellul begins, which heralds the approach of Rosh HaShanah. It is customary amongst Sephardic communities to begin early morning Selichot (special prayers of repentance) at the beginning of Ellul and continue until just before Yom Kippur. Ashkenazi Jews start these prayers a few days before Rosh Hashanah, but have…
Why did God allow the various tragedies of these three weeks and the fast days to befall the Jewish people? What terrible deeds led to the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people? If we understand the fundamental flaws that precipitated these events, we can begin to take the first steps…
When a relative dies, the most intense period of mourning is right before the burial, after which it becomes less intense. However, with Tisha B’Av, we start with mild mourning and as we come closer to Tisha B’Av the mourning becomes more intense. Rabbi Becher explains why this is so. View this video directly on…
The fast of the Ninth of Av, Tisha B’Av, is the most famous and the most stringent of all the fasts relating to the destruction of the Temple and the Exile. The very first tragedy to occur on this day took place soon after the Exodus from Egypt. The Jewish people sent spies to the…
Keeping promises can define you as a person. View this video directly on VIMEO