Birobidzhan: Jewish Utopia?
8 Adar So besides being my son, Zusha’s, birthday this Shabbat, what else has happened on this day in Jewish history? Can you believe that the Soviets tried to set up…
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Inspiration Zone
Stalin Was: A Return of the Haman
14 Adar Most of you heard about Purim in the days of Esther and Mordechai, which was about 2,376 years ago in Persia. A most fascinating thing happened about 2,308…
The Brothers “Rebbe Reb”
21 Adar So earlier this year I get a chance to write about Rebbe Reb Zusha and now I get to write about his brother Rebbe Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1786) whose yahrzeit is…
Bartenura’s Journey to Jerusalem
7 Nissan This is not the story of the wine. Though this is from whom that delicious wine gets its name! On this Shabbat in 1488, Rabbeinu Ovadiah Bartenura arrived…
The Jewish King of Poland (for a day)
Often we think of Poland as a place of pain for the Jewish people. That might be true, but there are also a lot of positive things that happened in…
The Legendary Prime Minister Golda Meir
“We have been waiting for 2,000 years. Is that hurrying?” Golda Mabovitch’s birthday is this Shabbat. You probably think of her as Golda Meir, but she was born to Blume…
? Burn Baby Burn ? Third Reich Inferno
The Connection between Lag b’Omer and the end of the Nazis Y”S “Better for that man to make himself fall into a fiery furnace than to embarrass his neighbor publicly”…
The Story of the Dubno Maggid
17 Tevet Dubno Maggid: Today is the yahrzeit of Rabbi Jacob ben Wolf Kranz (1741-1804). He was known as the storyteller from Dubno a.k.a. “The Dubno Maggid.” This teacher is…
The Lasting Impact of the Baal haTanya
“There is love like fire, and there is love like water.”— The Baal haTanya 24 Tevet: Yehrzeit of the Baal haTanya: Today is the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shneur Zalman (ben Baruch) of…
Rebbe Reb Zusha
““Better for that man to make himself fall into a fiery furnace than to embarrass his neighbor publicly” Rashbi (Sotah 10B)” Rebbe Reb Zusha:Today is the yahrzeit of Rebbe Reb…
Rabbeinu Nissim
“Since the ancients have decided, their conclusions may not be set aside.” 9 ShvatRabbeinu Nissim ben Reuven haGerondi is known in shorthand as the RaN. He was born sometime between 1308-1320 and…
Purim in Saragossa
“In Jewish history there are not coincidences”– Elie Weisel Purim Saragossa17 Shvat We just celebrated Tu b’Shvat, the New Year of Trees, a special time to taste unique and delicious fruits.…
Statute of Jewry
Statute of Jewry24 Shvat Meanwhile in England: Did you know in England the Jews were known as the property of the crown? It’s interesting that the Jewish people have a…
Make Sure You Are In The Right Gear
The main cause for the appearance of tzora’as, a skin infection, is due to loshon hora, or slanderous speech. The offender is sentenced to remain isolated outside the entire camp of Israel until he repents and then miraculously, the malady will disappear and he will be allowed to enter. Why…
This Week In Pictures
Let’s take a look at this week in pictures! We’ve got some fabulous photos from this week’s Olami Women’s learning night, plus a few important Mazels to our friends at Clean Speech St. Louis and Cleveland – and a look at the Strength in Dark Times Summit.
First Place
This Shabbos we will read the parsha that discusses the upcoming month of Nissan. It is considered the first and foremost of the months of the year. What indeed is so significant about this month. Of course, we bring the special Passover sacrifice in this month, however why would that…
Seeing Red!
After an enjoyable and lively Purim, we begin our ascent to the Yom Tov of Pesach. Of course, there is a lot more work that Pesach entails such as clearing the house of any remaining chometz and kashering the kitchen and buying only specially made food products for Pesach. There…
The Plateau
Purim is here with the masks and hamantashen. However, what is behind those masks. What is the essence of this incredibly exciting and joyous Yom Tov? R’ Yitzchok Luria better known as the AriZl suggests an amazing understanding of this special day. In Hebrew, the word Yom Kippur contains within…
How Long Will It Last?
Chasam Sofer cites Rabbeinu Bachya that the length of duration of the first and second Beis Hamikdash is alluded to in the beginning of this parsha. The opening verse states that these are the accountings of ‘the Mishkan’ the ‘Mishkan of Testimony.’ The words ‘the Mishkan’ in Hebrew is one…
Free Time?
This is the only parsha in the Torah that begins with this word “vayakhel” which means to gather together. The Midrash comments that Hashem instructed Moshe to assemble the people jointly on Shabbos and lecture them on the laws of Shabbos. It continues that future generations will derive from this…