Author Archive
MATISYAHU BEN YOCHANAN NOT LIKE MORDECHAI AND ESTHER
HaRav Yitzchok Isbee, Z’TL, notes that in the Al HaNisim tefillah on Chanukah we refer to Matisyahu as “Matisyahu ben Yochanan”, although we refer to Mordechai and Esther in the Al HaNisim of Purim without referring to either of their fathers’ names. To understand why, HaRav Isbee explains (based upon…
… and gave us the Shabbos
Had the Shabbos, with its manifold benefits, been nothing more than a Divinely ordained day of rest, how great a blessing would it still have been. For had Shabbos not been given to the Children of Yisrael for rest, had God not ordained it, then when would they have found…
Candle Lighting
KINDLING LIGHTS Israel has a tradition from the days of Moses to kindle lights for the Sabbath (Pesikta Zutresa). Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said that God blessed the Sabbath by providing additional manna on Friday and He sanctified it with lights (Mechilta Yisro). Rav Huna said that one who is…
General Laws of Lighting Shabbos Candles
One lights candles before Shabbos begins. The candlelight creates an atmosphere of peace and tranquility in the home. It is also one of the ways in which we honor Shabbos, and demonstrate its importance. The primary mitzvah is to light candles in the room where the Shabbos meal will be…
The Shalom Aleichem Hymn
The Talmud teaches that two Malachei HaShareis, ministering angels – one good and one evil – escort a person home from the synagogue on the eve of the Sabbath. If a Jew arrives home and finds a kindled lamp, a set table, and a made bed, the good angel says,…
The Chafetz Chaim and the Wagoners
The Shalom Aleichem hymn is sung upon returning home from the Synagogue on Friday night and finding one’s home set in a festive Shabbos atmosphere, A Good Angel declares, ‘May it be [God’s] will that it also be so next Sabbath.’ But if the home is not enveloped in the…
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…
Psalms Chapter 83
A Song Psalm of Asaph. Do not keep silent, O God; do not hold your peace and be still, O God. For, behold, your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate you have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against your people, and consulted against your…