The nations of the world do not accept the Torah and will surely reject our use of it as proof for our rights to the Eretz Yisroel. What is the medrash quoted by Rashi actually telling us?
The danger begins when disagreement changes the way we see the person on the other side. The story of David and Jonathan, read this week, is model for difference between friends.
The highest joy and achievement in life is to find the inner courage to set our own interests aside in the service of another, in the service of a higher purpose.
A century-old debate over shepherding in the Land of Israel takes on new meaning as modern farms combine agriculture, security, and settlement in defending Jewish control of the land.
The Tree of Knowledge gave man the ability to think about how to get what he wanted. The Tree of Life reminds him that there are things he cannot achieve on his own.
The Tanya compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life. It has revolutionized the way we think about G -d the human soul, the world and our place in it.
Online program based on HaGaon Rabbi Berkovits’ renowned curriculum
Mankind’s downfall in the Garden of Eden was brought about by what his eyes did not refrain from seeing. That has not changed, except that the web took the place of the garden.
As we begin reading the Torah from Bereishit, we pause to contemplate what the Torah is rooted in.
Joshua Bell’s Violin-and the Music of Jewish History.
Three years ago, on Simchat Torah, Jewish dances were violently interrupted by the savages of Hamas. Some of those who danced before October 7 will never dance with us again.
As Klal Yisrael shook the lulav and etrog in every direction, a miracle unfolded in the sky. But we do not need to wait for a miracle in the sky to value what Hashem placed in our hands, yet when He allows us to see one so openly, we should open our eyes, recognize it and say thank You.
The Torah is the deepest possible expression of the essence of Am Yisrael ’s soul. So which is first - Am Yisrael or the Torah?
To some observers, another Israeli election represents further evidence of instability, but Simchat Torah - celebrated just three weeks earlier - suggests another interpretation.
On Yom Kippur, we stood before HaKadosh Baruch Hu and asked for life. Now, in the sukkah, as the Flydubai miracle occurred, we are reminded how much of life we simply take for granted.
There are moments when watching the United Nations feels uncannily like watching one of the ancient cults described by Chazal. Everyone insists the institution is sacred, but the accepted rituals seem increasingly designed to degrade it.
A Jew is never stuck. You are exactly where you need to be. Like on FlyDubai 1073.
Rabbi Nachman said that people may be asleep all their lives, but through stories they can be awakened. Watch these and see.
On Shemini Atzeret, as we hear the Haftorah’s account of King Solomon and the Jewish people celebrating at the newly built Temple, those ancient verses take on a new immediacy.
The takeover of the attacker on the aircraft and the rescue of its passengers reflect the same spirit of valor that accompanied the judges of Israel, David and Moshe.
It will come to pass in the end of the exile, and the Jewish people will return to the land of Israel, that many nations will come together in order (with the intent) to capture Yerushalayim.
“Bring near those of us who are scattered among the nations and those of us who are dispersed - as a miracle [or: as a banner] from the ends of the earth".
The strength required to build our home, that is, our national homeland, must be spiritual might, the might of the festival, the might of God’s eternal word.
The mitzvah of Torah study is equal to all the other mitzvot. The reward for the mitzvah of Torah study is equal to the reward of all the mitzvot. Every person of Israel who engages in Torah sustains the world.
An extract from “Bechayil U’v Ruach," the last book that Rav Chaim Druckman approved for publication before he passed away, less than a year before the start of the war in Gaza.
MDA paramedic Tzvika Rider, whose son was murdered in Be'eri on October 7, took his first call in the new ambulance dedicated to his son's memory, and it was a woman in labor.
The Four Species have some deep and important lessons to teach us about the different kinds of Jew.
When united, the Jewish people are like a bundle of reeds that can’t be easily broken, whereas individual reeds can easily be broken.
Erev Sukkot was the yahrzeit of the Torah Gaon, revered Chief Rabbi and head of Merkaz Harav Yeshiva, A glimpse into the life of a tzaddik.
Jews are Jugglers: roots in the soil, eyes on the stars.
In Moses’ blessing to Issachar and Zevulun lies a message to the Jewish people: complete joy is created when each person recognizes the value of the other, and understands that without him the picture is not complete.
The aravah is not a deficient etrog; it has its own place in the service of God. Remove the aravah from the Four Species, and the mitzvah itself is incomplete.
Material pleasure is not incompatible with spirituality, but it is incomplete without spirituality. It must remain a tool but never become the purpose of our lives.
What defines an authentic Sage of Israel?
True simcha is found in recognizing what is genuinely meaningful in our lives.
For the first time in history, delegates of Noahide communities from every continent are coming to Jerusalem. Look below to find out how to join.
Gifted with a brilliant mind, a photographic memory, power of speech and a gigantic love of Yiddishkeit, Rabbi Hutner's own enthusiasm was infectious, sparking and uplifting the souls of his listeners to greater personal spiritual heights and development.
Our etrog is symbolic of all of those things we strive for in life that are to be as complete and and whole as possible.
Kosher schach (sukkah 'roof') has to be פסולת גורן ויקב: of the waste of the wheat and vines - the wheat and the grapes themselves cannot be used for schach, as they receive impurity. Where does this waste come from?
Only by delving deeply into the historic roots of the Jewish People can we appreciate what we are meriting to see, and gaze ahead to the future that awaits us.
Rabbeinu Bechayye ben Asher (Spain, 1255-1340), in his encyclopaedic work Kad ha-Kemach, offers some startling philosophical-kabbalistic insights into the significance of the Sukkah.
The willow travels from the lowest ground to the holiest place, and at the very summit of its climb, it bows.
The chapter begins with nations coming against Jerusalem. It ends with a world in which they recognize the G-d of Israel and ascend to His city.
What would halakha say about Jordan assuming security and administrative responsibility for Areas A and B of Yehuda and Shomron?
The proposed Christian October 7 event cannot simply be dismissed as a question of diplomacy or public relations.
We posted this article last year but it is even more apt this year, so we are posting it again.
Each of the Rabbonim below represents for me the qualities the Torah home I seek must contain. The rapid rise of the new and exciting party HaTzibbur HaChareidi has given me hope that such a home may be possible.
When it comes to our Judaism in general, we need to focus on joy, on fun, on happiness, on the pleasurable aspects of a true, traditional and authentic Jewish way of life.
A Jew may appear non-religious on the outside, but in the depths of his soul burns the flame of Torah and the yearning for a full life blessed with closeness to Hashem.
On Sukkot, we bind together four very different species. Their differences do not disappear. Together, however, they become a mitzvah. There is a lesson here.
The sukkah is fragile and temporary, but the welcome we create within it can be strong and lasting.
What is the significance of the changes at the end of two blessings in the Silent Prayer during the 10 Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur?
Each Mitzvah forges a bond between a finite human being and an infinite G-d. No small feat. But teshuvah reconnects us after that bond has been severed through sin.
It can be easier to stand in shul, say Vidui and ask Hashem to forgive us than to pick up the phone and say to someone, "I was wrong. I hurt you. Please forgive me."
Based on an insight by Rav Soloveitchik on the avodah of Yom Kippur, a strategy for tesuvah emerges. Rav Dovid Hirsch makes this inference.
It is not only a Kohen Gadol or an exceptionally pious person who can and must possess this quality of love for Israel and for the entire generation - to judge them favorably, defend them, and ask for mercy on their behalf. Every Jew can elevate himself and attain this level, since he belongs to a kingdom of priests.
Yom Kippur is a reenactment of the dedication of the Tabernacle. Just as they fell upon their faces and sang out, so do we.
Why would a person light a Yahrtzeit (Memorial) candle for themselves?
Yonah learned about partial teshuva when he was in the belly of the fish. He repented, and then agreed to fulfill his mission in Nineveh.
