by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 21, 2022 | Bereishit, Tishrei, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz The Jewish holidays in the Hebrew month of Tishrei are a short but intense period ending with the Biblical holiday of Shemini Atzeret (the Eight Day of Assembly). Since there is no Temple service today, its modern incarnation is Simchat...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 11, 2022 | Psalms, Community, Sukkot, Temple
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz I grew up reading the Tolkein series, so when I first set foot in a Yeshiva (school for Torah study) and saw a room full of bearded men learning in a strange language from huge tomes, I was thrilled. I was in Gandalf’s academy. Though I never...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 6, 2022 | Sukkot, Faith, Emor, God, Happiness and Joy, Prayer
By Rafi Weinstein Today is the first day of the seven-day holiday known as Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Though the Torah commands: “You shall live in booths seven days” (Leviticus 23:42), growing up in New York my family barely spent time in the sukkah...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 22, 2022 | Numbers, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, God
Last week was our anniversary and our kids threw us a surprise party. They invited all of our friends and brought in spectacular catering. It was amazing and the party went on until the early hours of the morning with the guests trickling away. The next morning, we...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 13, 2022 | Sukkot, God
God watched over the Children of Israel as they traveled through the desert toward the Promised Land, guiding them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The pillars were a constant presence. At dawn the pillar of fire would stand in place,...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 27, 2021 | Sukkot, Prayer
According to Jewish tradition, Sukkot is one of four Judgment Days during the year, and on the festival, God determines the world’s water allocation for the coming year. In ancient times, life and death hinged directly on the amount of rainfall that fell in Israel,...