This week is Parshat Va’etchanan, but the Shabbat is actually known as "Shabbat Nachamu," which means the "Sabbath of Comfort." It is because we had previously three weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Temple, the exile, and all the subsequent tragedies due to that exile, culminating in the most intense mourning on the fast of Tisha B'av, which occurred this year on Sunday.  During the three weeks preceding the ...

We are at the end of the three week period of mourning for the destruction of both the first and second Temples and, in general, for all the tragedies of the exile and dispersion of the Jewish people. What terrible sins 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 ...