MASHIB HARUAH: Why do we pray for rain in plural?
From the first day of shemini 'atseret (Oct. 5th 2015) we began reciting the prayer mashib haruah umorid hageshem, i.e., HaShem "makes the wind blow, and He...
Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib and the rabbinical ordination debate
Rabbi Levi ben Habib was born in Zamora, Spain, approximately in 1480. At the age of five he managed to escape to Portugal, with...
What is a Prozbul and why you should sign one?
This year that is coming to an end, 5775, has been a Shemita year. In addition to the restrictions of working the land in...
The SHOFAR and Jiminy Cricket
I remember the first time heard the word "conscience" was when I was a kid and I discovered one of my favorite characters, "Jiminy...
TESHUBA: Obstacles, on the way to repentance
In Chapter 4 of Hilkhot Teshuba Maimonides enumerates twenty-four actions, personality patterns or attitudes which prevent or make very difficult for a person to...
TESHUBA: What do people think before dying?
In his monumental book, Mishne Tora, Maimonides dedicates ten chapters to the subject of Teshuba (repentance). In the first four chapters Maimonides describes and...
TESHUBA, in front of a camera
"What is considered a perfect act of repentance? When one is faced with the same opportunity to repeat the original transgression, but now he...
TESHUBA 5:3. I’m what I do in the next 5 minutes
In the third chapter of his Hilkhot Teshuba, Maimonides explains that in terms of religious behavior there are three categories of people: rasha 'tsadiq...
Free Will and Evolution Theory
האדם רשותו בידו וכל מעשיו מסורים לו
Hilkhot Teshuba, 5:4
Yesterday, we explained that the difference between humans and all other living beings is "free will"....
HILKHOT TESHUBA 5:3: Free will and human progress
Yesterday we explained that the idea of free will is, according to Maimonides, the essential foundation of the Tora and its mitzvot. We also...
HILKHOT TESHUBA: The difference between animals and men
In his book Mishne Tora, Hilkhot Teshuba, Maimonides presents the doctrine of "free will" (behira hofsheet), that is, the idea that a human being...
TESHUBA and the 13 Middot. Forgive, to be forgiven
The core of the Selihot prayer is the Biblical text 'Amonay, Amonay, E-l Rahum veHanun....". These words are known as the 13 attributes of...
Urgent vs. Important
As we have explained yesterday, in Sephardic communities Selihot have already started. And as we will see BH in the coming days, the center of...
MUSAR: Maimonides on Anger Management
In Hilkhot De'ot (the rules of good behavior), Chapter 1, Maimonides describes his famous theory of the "middle way". According to Maimonides, we all...
Rabbi Shelomo Alqabets (1500-1580), author of Lekha Dodi
Rabbi Shelomo haLevi Alqabets was born in Salonica, Greece, in the year 1500. His father was Moshe halevi Alqabets, a refugee from the expulsion...
The miracles I saw and lived in israel
A few hours ago, I returned from Israel. We had the great merit of being in Jerusalem for several weeks, celebrating the wedding of...
Rabbi Shemuel de Medina, head of the Yeshiba of Salonica (1505-1589)
Rabbi Shemuel ben Moshe de Medina (abbreviated רשד"ם) was a great Talmudist and the Rosh Yeshiba of the Talmudic academy of that city. His...
The best age to get married
The first Mitsva mentioned in the Tora is Piryia veRibyia, the commandment (and God's first blessing to mankind) to get married and bring children...
The day of the Wedding: Sephardic and Ashkenazi traditions
Although the basic elements of the Jewish wedding are exactly the same , there are some customs which different from community to community and...
Who can act as a witness, and who can not?
As we have explained yesterday Jewish Law requires the presence of two adult male witnesses in a marriage ceremony.
Not any man is competent to...
