Repentance Out of Love
The festival of Succot is a happy festival. We celebrate the fact that Hashem took us out of Egypt and sheltered us in booths, as well as placing us in a special defence force of Ananei Hakavod – Clouds of…
Sukkot Insights
During Yom Kippur we restored our relationship with Hashem. On Sukkot we learn how that relationship should affect our everyday lives. The principal lesson we learn is that Hashem has made comprehensive provision for all our needs. This lesson is…
Sukkot Insights
The Gemoro Sukka Daf 27b states "כל ישראל ראוים לישב בסוכה אחת" – all the Jewish people are fit to sit under one Sukka. Now, while this sounds very nice, it is obviously impossible for the entire Jewish people to…
A Message from the Sukah
It says in Parshat Pinchos, 'Bayom Hashemini Atzeret Tiheye Lochem'. Targum Yonason translates this as 'We should gather ourselves from the Sukah to our homes, besimcha' - i.e. the essence of the day of Shemini Atzeret is that we are…
Sukkot Insights
My grandfather, Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Carlebach was a rabbi in New Jersey at a time of changing demographics. An older bachelor, a chazzan of a shul some distance was a regular at their Shabbat table. One Rosh Hashanah he really…
From Sublimation to Intensity
Yom Kippur, the ultimate day of repentance, has the Jewish nation simultaneously praying, fasting and asking for forgiveness. It begins with the somber, quiet, and melodious intonation of Kol Nidrei and ends with the entire congregation shouting Hashem hu HaElokim…
YOM KIPPUR: The 13 Attributes
Over time and even among Sephardim, the Jewish world has adopted practices that viewed objectively are hard to explain. But because they’re mentioned in the Talmud or attributed to some of our great teachers, we accept them on the basis…
You Only Fail When You Stop Trying!
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the holy of holies of Jewish time. It is that rarest of phenomena, a Jewish festival without food. Instead, it is a day of fasting and prayer, introspection, and self-judgment when, collectively and…
