Words to the Shema and Its Blessings

The Shema, one of the most important (and shortest) prayers in Jewish liturgy, is surrounded by three long blessings. The first two, which thank God for creation and revelation precede the Shema. The third, which thanks God for redemption, follows the Shema. While the translation below uses masculine God language, numerous Jewish prayer books (siddurs)…

Read More

Sukkot 2020

Sukkot I (on Shabbat) / סוּכּוֹת יוֹם א׳ (בְּשַׁבָּת)Saturday, 3 October 2020 / 15 Tishrei 5781 Torah Portion: Leviticus 22:26-23:44 1: Leviticus 22:26-33 2: Leviticus 23:1-3 3: Leviticus 23:4-8 4: Leviticus 23:9-14 5: Leviticus 23:15-22 6: Leviticus 23:23-32 7: Leviticus 23:33-44 maf: Numbers 29:12-16 (5 p’sukim) Haftarah: Zechariah 14:1-21 Sukkot II / סוּכּוֹת יוֹם ב׳Sunday, 4 October 2020 / 16 Tishrei 5781 Torah Portion: Leviticus 22:26-23:44 1: Leviticus 22:26-23:3 2: Leviticus 23:4-14…

Read More

Kol Nidrei

The declaration made before the recital of Kol Nidrei [We permit prayer with thosewho are transgressors] has its roots in the events that occurred at the time of theforced conversions imposed upon Spanish Jews. The Church subjected SpanishJewry to harsh and cruel persecution, forcing them to renounce Judaism and acceptChristianity. There were many among the…

Read More

Erev Yom Kippur

Erev Yom Kippur Immersion in the MikvehIt is proper for men to immerse themselves in a Mikveh on Erev Yom Kippur. Even in his advanced years when Maran zt”l was weak and this proved difficult, he nevertheless made the effort to go and immerse in a Mikveh (located in the home of Harav Eliyahu Sheetrit Shlit”a) on Erev Yom…

Read More

Featured Books

Netzarim Emunah Chumash By Yaakov Bar Yosef THE NETZARIM EMUNAH CHUMASH is a line by line precept by precept Chumash. Easy to use format for reading and in-depth study of Torah.

Hineni: Prayer for the Ability to Pray

Hineni. Here I am. Most of what we recite in synagogue on the High Holidays utilizes the first person plural: We praise you. God, save us because we have sinned. We pray as a community and we express ourselves collectively. But the Hineni prayer, a meditation traditionally recited by the cantor prior to the Musaf…

Read More

The missing Chapter

The missing Chapter 29 of the Acts of the ApostlesWe have seen in our investigation, the persistent rumors of Joseph of Arimathea in Britain and how it is that we have been misdirected as to his burial place by the propaganda put out by Henry Blois. When we start to search into how it is…

Read More

Shabbat Shuva 2020 – 5781 / שַׁבָּת שׁוּבָה

The Shabbat that falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah, or the Sabbath of return. If that word reminds you of the word teshuvah, that’s not a coincidence — they share a common root. Teshuvah, or repentance, is a core concept of the High Holidays. The word literally means “return.” Services…

Read More

Parashat Ha’Azinu / פרשת האזינו

Torah Reading: HA-AZINU, Deuteronomy 32: 1-52 THE SONG OF G-D’S JUSTICE Some songs are happy, some are sad. Some are for entertainment. Some come to tell a story or teach a lesson. Some express the inner heart and soul. Unique among all songs is the song of Moses in our parashah. HA-AZINU is the song of…

Read More

Beginning of a New Beginning

  All beginnings are hard… Rashi I once asked a young Rosh HaYeshiva about a phenomenon that I found to be at odds with a famous statement by Rashi. “All beginnings are hard”. Clearly Rashi says “all” and that means every beginning is open for examination. “How come it is that we find at the…

Read More

Rosh Hashanah Which Coincides With Shabbat – Coronavirus

By Popular Demand: Since there will unfortunately be many people forced to pray Rosh Hashanah prayers alone at home, the Halacha is that one should recite all prayers, as usual, obviously besides for the Chazzan’s repetition of the Amida prayer. Such individuals are also obligated to her Shofar blowing. If one knows how to blow…

Read More