by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 24, 2021
Dear Friends, I want us to ask ourselves a simple question: What is the story that we will be telling? The central mitzvah of Pesach night is maggid, to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. In many of our homes on Seder night, we will have spirited discussions and debates as we attempt to be doresh – to engage in the story, to bring our personal lens to it, exploring its meaning and relevance to us today.…
Rabbi Shalom Messas (1909-2003), an influential Sefardi posek, served as both the Chief Rabbi of Morocco and Jerusalem. He succeeded his longtime teacher Rabbi Yehoshua Berdugo as Chief Rabbi of Morocco in 1945 at the relatively young age of thirty six, and in 1978, he was invited by Israeli Chief Rabbi, Rav Ovadiah Yosef to become the Chief Sefardic Rabbi of Jerusalem.…
In the Time of Coronavirus
The two primary paragraphs of Yizkor — the titular “Yizkor” and the well-known “El Maleh Rachamim” — are contrasting devotions. El Maleh Rachamim requests repose. The key word is Menucha, or rest. We ask that God grant our relative’s soul “fitting rest … a rest in the Garden of Eden … so that they rest in peace”. …
In the Time of Coronavirus
One of the many customs of Simchat Torah is that of chatan Torah, the title given to the person who is called up to the Torah to receive the very last Aliyah of the Torah. The term chatan is an evocative one.…
In the Time of Coronavirus
The Rabbis tell us that the mitzvah to dwell in a sukkah means that we are, for this week, to tzei midirat keva ve’sheiv bi’dirat aray –to leave our established, permanent abode and live in a temporary dwelling. In other years, I have understood the message to be that by living in a temporary dwelling we become aware that the normal stability and predictability of our lives – our established abode – is actually an illusion.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 19, 2020
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Question: Can people under quarantine fulfil the mitzvah of megillah by listening on the telephone or by participating via Zoom or the like? What can these people do regarding listening to parashat Zakhor? Summary: For megillah – One may rely on those Aharonim who rule that a person fulfils his or her obligation.…
Introduction The mishnah in Shabbat 145b states: “Anything that has been prepared in hot water prior to Shabbat, may be immersed in hot water on Shabbat.” From here we learn the principle of ein bishul ahar bishul (one does not violate the Biblical prohibition of cooking when reheating food that has already been cooked).…
This weekend, we will celebrate another marathon holiday – Shabbat followed by Shavuot. Shavuot, occurring later in spring, presents its own challenges of time: each day of the holiday, as with all yamim tovim, does not begin until dark, but as preparing for one day of the holiday on the previous one (or on Shabbat for Yom Tov) is forbidden, any preparations not done before the holiday may not begin until very late in the evening.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 8, 2017
This is a source sheet to accompany the panel that took place in Jerusalem on January 5, 2017 titled, “Divine Sparks: Shabbat, Electricity” To listen to the audio from the panel, click on the following audio link: Below is a summary of the main ways in which poskim have tried to put the use of electricity, when it does not involve any other melakha (e.g.,…
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