Rabbi Chanan Morisson What is the significance of the various blasts of the shofar? The shofar is a wake-up call, stirring us to mend our ways and do teshuvah. As Maimonides wrote in the Mishneh Torah, the shofar calls out to us: “Sleepers, wake up from your slumber! Examine your ways and repent and remember … Read more
by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller Yisrael Kristal is turning 113 years old. Mazel tov! Most boys celebrate their bar mitzvah when they turn 13. Yisrael Kristal, the world’s oldest man, plans to celebrate the day he became a bar mitzvah a century late, when he turns 113. Over a hundred friends and relatives plan to … Read more
by Sara Yoheved Rigler This Rosh Hashanah, electrify your life with purpose. After six months of working for the company, it’s time for your evaluation. You walk into the boardroom, where three designer-suit-clad personnel managers are sitting behind a mahogany desk. The one on the left scans your file, looks up at you accusingly, and … Read more
Rabbi Chanan Morisson While the Torah commands every Jew to write a Torah scroll, there is one individual who is obligated to write an additional Torah scroll. Surprisingly, it is neither the high priest, nor the head of Sanhedrin. It is the king who is commanded to write a second Torah scroll during his reign … Read more
Rabbi Chanan Morisson Based on the writings of Maran Harav Kook Z”tzl When Did the Exodus Occur? At what time of day did the Jewish people leave Egypt? The Torah appears to contradict itself regarding the hour of the Exodus. In Deut. 16:1 we read, “It was in the month of spring that the Lord … Read more
by Rabbi Benjamin Blech What a difference a fraction of a second makes! It is a lifelong dream for the finest athletes in the world. Incredible effort, preparation and total dedication for many years are put into the hope of standing on the podium to be recognized as the gold-medal winner. Only one person can … Read more
Rabbi Chanan Morisson ( based on the teachings of Maran Harav Kook) “All who mourn [the destruction of] Jerusalem will merit to see it in its joy.” (Ta’anit 30b) At first glance, this statement seems peculiar. Why did the Sages say that those who mourn Jerusalem’s destruction will merit seeing it ‘be-simchata’ — ‘in its … Read more
Rabbi Chanan Morisson With harsh words, the Torah admonishes a society where murderers can evade punishment through bribes: “Do not defile the land in which you live and in which I live.” (Num. 35:34) In what way does letting murderers go unpunished “defile the land”? And why does the Torah emphasize that this is the … Read more
