Jewish Holidays

The Day of Love for the Land of Israel

The initial letters of the weekly Torah portions that we read publicly over the course of the next few weeks, starting with Shmot, spell out the Hebrew word "Shovavim." Thus, the coming weeks are the "Days of Shovavim," widely regarded as days of fasting and atonement. The acronym Shovavim is also a Hebrew word meaning "troublemakers." In Yirmiyahu 3,22 appears the prophet's exhortation, "Return [repent], children who are shovavim" – and thus is revealed the connection between repentance and this Shovavim period...

For Chanuka: Rav Kook on: Adopting the Positive Without the Negative of Greek/Western Culture Chanuka is a good opportunity to study Rav Kook's detailed advise regarding how exactly to adopt the good from the Western and modern world without the problematic and negative aspects. The class gleans many sources on this central topic of Rav Kook's various books and summarizes the Who, What, Where and How of this basic issue for religious-Zionist and Modern-Orthodox Jews.

The Admor informed his good friend, Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, of his release [from prison] with this letter: "… and who am I, the lowest of people, that G-d brought me this far, that the Name of Heaven should be sanctified and magnified through me… But this was precisely from G-d, that this merit should come through me in the merit of the Holy Land and its inhabitants in this manner.

How can Hoshana Rabba be a day of such happiness if it is actually a day of judgement?

In the Hallel prayer we recite this verse: "This is the day G-d wrought, we will rejoice in it/Him." The Midrash asks about this last word: Is it "it," or "Him?" That is, are we supposed to rejoice in the day, or in G-d?