Festivals
SERENITY OF Shabbos*
Man in his unrelenting toil looks forward to the Shabbos day. Throughout the Six Days of Work he cannot stop his laborious efforts to provide for himself and his family. As the sun sets Friday afternoon in anticipation of the Shabbos Queen, he finally allows himself to relax, to prepare…
Shabbos – The Great Gift
God said to Moses. I have a wonderful gift among my treasures and it is called the Sabbath and I wish to give it to the Children of Israel. Go and tell them of this” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbath. 10b). Even the vast treasuries of mighty kings, do not…
A PASSOVER LESSON
As we approach the beautiful holiday of Pesach, Passover, let us reflect on the glorious Exodus from Mitzrayim, Egypt. After the Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim, they traveled in a circuitous route in the Sinai Dessert. Pharaoh, the King of Egypt set out with his army in hot pursuit of the…
Write your own sefer zichronos diver hayamim
On Purim, we will discover in the Megillah that Achashveirosh had a Sefer Zichronos-Divrei Hayomim–a written recording of the meaningful events that had transpired for him daily. Because he had this book–he remembered that which he had (perhaps conveniently) forgotten–what Mordechai had done for him. The rest is history–for Achashveirosh…
Queen Esther – The Unhappiest Queen of Them All
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus — he was the Ahasuerus who reigned from Hodu to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces. (Esther 1:1) The Medrash asks homiletically “what brought Esther to rule over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces? And the Medrash answers ‘it is appropriate for…
The Month of Adar and The Purim Miracle
We are now in the Jewish month of Adar. This is the month in which the Purim miracle happened over two thousand years ago. The month of Adar is symbolized by fish. According to tradition, fish have a special quality as they are very fertile; producing hundreds (some species even…
Tehilim for Purim
Click here to open the pdf doc with Tehilim for Purim
Purim and Tzedaka
We provide the following true story and insight on the lesson of Tzedaka from the Chofetz Chaimthat we provided earlier — that one should never be upset if the same pauper returns to him time after time; indeed, one should feel as much joy each time as if an important…
Make Purim Last
Imagine how you would feel the day you won the lottery! It would make no difference whether it was $45 million, $161 million or $276 million. A spirit of overflowing glee and insurmountable joy would exude from every part of your being. Undoubtedly, the unquashed, exuberant feeling would last for…
A PURIM THOUGHT
The Talmud says [Chulin 139b] that the Torah contains an allusion to Mordechai, found in an ingredient of the Ketores [Incense]. The words “Mor Dror” [Shmos 30:23] are translated into Aramaic as “Mor dechi.” This type of Talmudic passage obviously requires illumination. The Rabbis must be telling us something more…