Two Last Instructions
“Assemble the people… in order that they hear, and in order that they learn and fear Hashem, your G-d, and they will be careful to do all the words of this Torah. …and now, write for yourselves this song, and teach it to the children of Israel; place it into their mouths…” – Devarim 31:12-19 הַקְהֵל אֶת הָעָם . . […]
Hakhel: Bracing for Change
….Assemble the people: The men , the women and the children, and your strangers in your cities, in order that they hear, and in order that they learn and fear G-od, your G-od and they will observe to do all the words of this Torah…. (Devarim 31:12) Hakhel is observed every seven years, in the year following Shemitah. Why […]
The Perfectly Timed Yartzeit
“….This day I am one hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go or come…..”(Devarim 31:2) The Talmud (Kiddushin 38a) explains: ‘This day’ need not be stated; why then is it stated? It teaches that G-d sits and completes the years of the righteous from day to day and month to month. The Tanya (Igeres Hakodesh 27) teaches […]
Sensitive Time
“…On Rosh Hashana they will be inscribed…” – Rosh Hashana Liturgy בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן – תפילת מוסף דר”ה Rosh Hashana marks the start of the new Jewish year. Yet, the name of this holiday in Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashana, does not mean “the start of the year,” but “the head of the year.” As explained in Chassidus, this name demonstrates that […]
It’s Not Just the Jewish New Year
The name Rosh Hashana, meaning “head of the year”, tells us that this holiday is not only the day on which a new year on the Jewish calendar begins, and when our deeds of the last year are judged. If it were, names like “Start of the Year” or “The New Year” would be more appropriate than “Head of the […]
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