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 The Unknown Hero of Yom Kippur .: Viewed: 2341 times :.
Most impressive and awe-inspiring was the Yom Kippur Avoda (Service) in the Temple. The Kohen Gadol (The High Priest) had the most awesome task on this day. He performed many duties. He offered many Korbanot (Offerings) and prayers on behalf of the Jewish People. Prior to Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol was secluded in the Temple precincts for a period of seven days. There he studied and reviewed...
Published: August 5, 2013 |
Time - Life’s Most Precious Gift .: Viewed: 1470 times :.
“This month shall be for you the beginning of all the months.” (Shemot 12:2) This verse contains the very first Mitzva that Klal Yisrael received as we were about to become a free and independent nation, right before the Exodus from Egypt.
Seforno explains that this Mitzva of Rosh Chodesh was presented first because its essence – that we Jews are masters over our time...
Published: January 3, 2019 |
Tisha B'Av during the Second Temple – Fast or Feast? .: Viewed: 2010 times :.
The prophet Zecharia, who lived at the beginning of the Second Temple Period, states (Ch. 8) that all of the 4 fasts, commemorating the Destruction of the Temple shall become days of joyous festivals and gladness. At what historical time was this prophecy fulfilled? Rabbenu Chananel states that this prophecy was fulfilled during the Second Temple Period. The Rambam...
Published: July 7, 2015 |
Tisha B’Av - PLAN A or PLAN B? .: Viewed: 1346 times :.
The Mitzva to mourn on Tisha B’Av is only temporary, (PLAN B) until it becomes a permanent day of joy and celebration when Mashiach comes as stated in Zacharya 8. Thus, Tisha B’Av is destined to be part of our Halachic tradition, but NOT as a day of eternal mourning.
Therefore, in Megillat Eicha, which is read on Tisha B’Av, Yirmiyahu refers to Tisha B’Av as a MOED...
Published: July 25, 2019 |
Tisha B’Av during the 2nd Temple - Were We BI-POLAR? .: Viewed: 1356 times :.
This year, because Tisha B’Av falls on Shabbat, we will be Feasting instead of Fasting. The Tisha B’Av Fast is pushed off until Sunday. What about Tisha B’Av during the Second Temple Period? Did the Jewish People fast during those 420 years that the Second Temple stood? The Prophet Zecharia, who lived at the beginning of the Second Temple Period, states (Ch. 8) that all of...
Published: July 4, 2018 |
Tisha BÂ’Av: Observing Shiva Now for Ancient Tragedies? .: Viewed: 2873 times :.
On Tisha B'Av we mourn for the destruction of the first and second Holy Temples. The Talmud in Trachtate Taanit (Page 30) states that all Mitzvot that apply to a mourner during the Shiva also apply to the entire Jewish people on Tisha B'Av. In other words, according to Halacha we are all sitting Shiva on Tisha B'Av. But, how can this be ? For the Halacha states that if a close relative has...
Published: July 18, 2012 |
Tisha BÃv – The Hidden "Festival"? .: Viewed: 1841 times :.
Four days a year Jews fast and mourn, commemorating various historical events concerning the destruction of the Holy Temple. The 17 th of Tamuz is one of the four days, and it began a three week period of limited mourning that climaxes with Tisha B'Av, the day of the destruction of both Holy Temples. These four days of fasting are found in the prophet Zechariah. Consistent with Judaism's...
Published: July 25, 2014 |
Tisha Bav During The Second Temple: Feast or Fast? .: Viewed: 3028 times :.
The prophet Zechariah, who lived towards the end of the Babylonians exile after the destruction of the first Temple, says in chapter 8, that G-d tells him that all the feast commemorating the destruction of the Temple shall become to the house of Judah days of joy, gladness and holidays.
The Tamud explains this passage that all these fast days will become feast days when the Messiah comes....
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Tisha'a B'Av-Did G-D Divorce Us .: Viewed: 5062 times :.
After the Ten Tribes had been exiled by Sancherev, Yishayahu speaks to the remaining tribes of Yehuda, Binyamin and Levi who remained in Eretz Yisrael. "Where is your mother's Bill of Divorce? I sent her away? INDEED! Because of your rebelliousness you were sent away!" (Yishayahu 50). The Prophet says that G-D will never divorce us.
However, the Radak brings the words of Yirmiyahu who...
Published: August 10, 2016 |
To Know HIM is to Love HIM .: Viewed: 1415 times :.
There was a number one hit song in 1958 called “To know HIM is to love HIM, and I do!” Was this song about G-d? Because the Shema Yisrael, which we recite twice a day states “You shall love Hashem your G-d with all your heart and soul.” (Devarim 6:5)
This verse that commands us to love G-d raises a complicated question. Is it possible to command someone to love...
Published: August 7, 2018 |
Trees R Us! .: Viewed: 1945 times :.
In various places in Tanach a person is compared to a tree. "A person is like the tree of a field…"(Devarim 20:19). "For as the days of the tree shall be the days of My people." (Yeshayahu 65:22). "He will be like a tree planted near water…"(Yirmiyahu 17:8
What does the tree metaphor represent? The Maharal explains that the human body is shaped like a tree. The...
Published: January 15, 2015 |
Tu B'Shvat: Why the Torah Compares a Human Being to a Tree .: Viewed: 2961 times :.
The source for Tu B'Shvat is the opening Mishnah of the Talmudic Tractate Rosh Hashana: "The Academy of Hillel taught that the 15th of Shvat is the New Year for the Trees." Â What does that mean, "New Year for the Trees?" Â Tu B'Shvat is technically the day when trees stop absorbing water from the ground and instead draw nourishment from their sap. In Halacha, this means that fruit which has...
Published: January 31, 2007 |
Tu BÂ’Av (15th of Av): Celebrating Burial of the Dead? .: Viewed: 2417 times :.
The Gemara says in Taanis (30b) that no Festivals were more joyous or brighter for the Jewish People than the Fifteenth of Av (Tu B’Av) and Yom Kippur. What was so special about the Fifteenth of Av? There are several opinions in the Gemara. According to one opinion, this was the day on which those, killed in Beitar, were brought to burial. When the Romans slaughtered the people of...
Published: July 30, 2012 |
Tu BÂ’Av: Why the Celebration? .: Viewed: 3403 times :.
The Gemara says in Taanis (30b) that no days were more joyous for the Jewish people than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur. What was so special about the Fifteenth of Av? There are several opinions in the Gemara. According to one opinion, this was the day on which those, killed in Beitar, were brought to burial. When the Romans slaughtered the people of Beitar, they left their corpses to rot...
Published: May 24, 2011 |
Tu B’Shevat, Human Beings, And Trees .: Viewed: 2241 times :.
The source for Tu B’Shevat is the opening Mishnah of the Talmudic tractate Rosh Hashanah: “The Academy of Hillel taught that the 15th of Shevat is the New Year for the trees.” What does that mean, “New Year for the trees”? Tu B’Shevat is technically the day when trees stop absorbing water from the ground and instead draw nourishment from their sap. In...
Published: January 8, 2014 |