Tammuz :There Ain’t No Cure for the Summertime Blues
Rabbi Francis Nataf Teacher, Midreshet Rachel v’Chaya Summertime has always been a difficult period spiritually. It is no coincidence that the low point of the Jewish calendar falls out in Tammuz and Av, right in the middle of the summer. Tammuz embodies the inherent difficulty of bottling inspiration. It comes right after the high point […]
Shavuot:A Divine Invitation
by: Rabbi Francis Nataf, Teacher, Midreshet Rachel v’Chaya The Beit haLevi asks an interesting question on the nusach of our Shavuot prayers: We speak of Shavuot as “zman matan torateinu,” yet the Torah was actually given on the seventh day of Sivan, the day after we celebrate Shavuot (ed note; make reference to gemara that […]
Shavuot: Choosing a Profession: Torah Considerations
Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz Part II – Entering the Professional World: Pros and Cons Many deliberate over whether to enter the professional world (usually preceded by university study) or to pursue full-time Torah study in a kollel framework. I draw on my experience in the yeshiva, the academic and the professional worlds to present some of […]
Shavuot: Torah and Professionalism
Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz Part I – Full-time learning vs. combining learning with a profession General introduction We will attempt here to explore a diversity of views on the subject of Torah and professionalism. When Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky zt”l discussed this issue he emphasized that it is not an area subject to clear cut halakhic analysis […]
Shavuot: The Students of Rabbi Akiva & Shavuot
Rabbi Joel Zeff We are now nearing the end of the countdown (countup?) towards Shavuot and Matan Torah. This period of the Omer involves customs associated with mourning. Why? The Talmud relates that during this period, 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died in a plague. (Several other tragic events in Jewish history also occurred during […]
Shavuot: Preparation for Shavuot
Rabbi Menachem Farber How strange it seems to prepare for Matan Torah through re-experiencing the tragic demise of Rabbi Akiva’s Talmidim. Yet, the proximity of such a major tragedy to Matan Torah is surely not coincidental. What lesson is there for us in that tragedy and in its timing? The Gemara tells us that Rabbi […]
Shavuot: Regaining our Crowns
Rabbi Menachem Farber, senior lecturer, Darche Noam/Shapell’s I. The Taste of Torah In the beginning of Parshat Mishpatim, Hashem taught Moshe Rabbeinu a powerful lesson about transmitting Torah. On the words, “These are the laws that you should place before them,” Rashi makes the following comment: Hashem said to Moshe: Do not say, “I will […]
Shavuot:The Gift of Kedusha
Rabbi Menachem Farber, senior lecturer, Darche Noam/Shapell’s [Note: Rabbi Farber prefers not to translate the words Kadosh, Kedusha or Kedoshim into English, but its meaning is developed early in the article.] I had two opportunities this month to speak publicly about the mitzva of “Kedoshim Tih’yu.” One talk focused on what we need to do […]
Iyar: Thinking about the Land of Israel
Rav Yisroel of Shklov and the Paas Hashulchan Rabbi Binyomin Adilman From B’ohalei Tzaddikim Thinking about Eretz Yisroel. . . R’ Yisroel of Shklov was one of the closest disciples of the Gaon of Vilna. In 1810 he led a delegation of students and followers of the Gaon, together with their families, to Eretz Yisroel. […]
Iyar: Solidarity with Israel
by Andrew White, London (Darche Noam Alumnus) Thursday 24 May 2001 – 2 Sivan 5761 Making the Spiritual Connection At this time of anguish for the Jewish people, those of us who live outside Israel have an obligation to respond through our spiritual efforts. We here in England, and elsewhere in the diaspora, are physically […]
