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The Torah Learning Library of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Category: Moadim/Holidays

The Shofar: Object and Meaning in Hasidic Thought

by Dr. Biti Roi
Posted on September 21, 2022

How Many Jewish New Years are There and How Do We Know?

by Rabbi Jeffrey S. Fox
Posted on September 21, 2022

Erev Yom Kippur in the Aggadah

by Rabba Wendy Amsellem
Posted on September 21, 2022

a headshot of rabbi linzer smiling with a library in the background

Shemitah or Shnat Shabbaton? When Torah Values Collide

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on September 21, 2022

animation of the temple burning and the hebrew words for tisha b'av

Should Children Mourn the Loss of the Temple?

Anyone who has spent time at a Jewish summer camp has inevitably confronted questions regarding what children should or shouldn’t do in the weeks preceding Tisha B’Av and on Tisha B’Av itself. From the 17th of Tammuz, many Ashkenazim have the custom not to shave or conduct weddings, and beginning with Rosh Chodesh Av, there are additional customs such as refraining from bathing, laundering one’s clothes, and listening to live music.…

a page from a work of lurianic kabbalah

The Study of Kabbalah

The well-known custom of staying up all night on Shavuot to study Torah originated as a kabbalistic practice with roots in the Zohar. Every Shavuot, the Zohar explains, God marries the Jewish people once again, and the study of Torah beautifies the shechina (divine presence) before the marriage ceremony is to commence.…

Achrei Mot: Counting Sefirat HaOmer

by Jason Goldstein
Posted on April 28, 2022

What is the purpose of Sefirat HaOmer? We are now well into our yearly journey through Sefirat HaOmer. We began counting on the second day of Pesach and will continue through Shavuot. Day in and day out, week in and week out, we count.…

chips aisle in a grocery store

Chametz She’Avar Alav HaPesach 

QUESTION  Westchester, NY  I have some חמץ שעבר עליו את הפסח. My school is doing a food drive this week. Can I donate my חמץ without concern for הנאה? The food drive is also a competition between classes. If I put it in one of the class boxes, would that be a problem?…

Yachatz: God Is With Us in Our Brokenness

by Rabbi Dr. Eli Yoggev
Posted on April 14, 2022

One of the main purposes of the Pesach seder is to remind us that HaShem can help us today just like HaShem helped Am Yisrael many years ago in Egypt. The yachatz part of the seder takes this to the next level through teaching that many times our future redemption is hidden in our very moments of brokeness and struggle. …

mustard seeds

Defining Kitniyot 

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 13, 2022

QUESTION  Rav Linzer, can you weigh in on why (or why not) sesame seeds and mustard seeds are kitniyot?  ANSWER  It is hard if not impossible to nail down a definition of what type of produce is included in kitniyot. Rav Moshe Feinstein (Iggrot Moshe OC 3:63) acknowledged the two reasons given for the prohibition of kitniyot: (1) that these foods can be used to make flour and (2) that wheat and barley often get mixed in with these foods.…

Purim Megillah

Directing our Energies: Renewal & Acceptance

by Rabbi Ezra Seligsohn
Posted on March 17, 2022

As we come out of Purim, I wanted to share a message related not just to this incredible holiday, but to this life moment that we find ourselves in. At the end of the Megillah, the Jewish people accept upon themselves the holiday of Purim and the mitzvot associated with it.…

flag of ukraine blowing in wind in blue sky

Purim 5782 Greetings from Rabbi Dov Linzer

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 11, 2022

We are about to enter the holiday of Purim. It is a day that celebrates a breathtaking reversal of events–a people on the brink of decimation turns the tables on their enemies. They take the battle to them and emerge unscathed and victorious.…