Category: Moadim/Holidays

Chuppah and Har Sinai

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on August 6, 2009

When we move from sefer Vayikra to sefer Bamidbar, we are finally moving away from Har Sinai, where Bnei Yisrael have been for almost a year. From the middle of Shemot through the end of Vayikra, they have been encamped at the foot of Har Sinai, having received the Torah, mitzvot and the laws, and then all the laws of the Kohanim, through Kedoshim and Behar Bichukotai.…

Fire or Light?

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on December 22, 1998

The miracle of Chanukah is commemorated and publicized by the lighting of the candles. The Talmud (Shabbat 21b) tells us that the exact practice of how to light the Chanukah candles was disputed by the School of Hillel and the School of Shammai.…

Tekiot and Truot – Unity and Action

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on September 22, 1998

If we were asked what we associate with the day of Rosh Hashana, we would probably think in terms of the ritual obligation of the blowing of the shofar and of the broader philosphical implications of a day of judgement, the first of the Ten Days of Repentance.…

Tisha B’Av, Tragedy and a Personal God

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 22, 1998

On the Ninth of Av we mourn over the destruction of the Temple and over other great tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people. It is a day marked by great sadness and sorrow, a day on which we are all mourners.…

The Yom Kippur Service and The Avoda of Teshuva

by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 17, 1998

Parshat Acharay-Mot details the Temple service that the high priest would perform every Yom Kippur. Today, the description of the Temple service forms the center of the communal Yom Kippur Musaf prayer, and the Torah reading on Yom Kippur is taken from the parsha of Acharay-Mot.…