We explained yesterday that one of the three positive Biblical Mitsvot of Pesah is to eat Matsa.  Now, why do we eat...

Pesah is less than a month away. The first night will be celebrated B'H Monday April 14th, 2014.  Pesah's laws and customs are...

ויבז בעיניו לשלוח יד במרדכי לבדו   The villain of the story of Purim is Haman ben Hamedata, a descendant of Amaleq. King Ahashverosh appointed Haman...

ישנו עם אחד מפוזר ומפורד בין העמים בכל מדינות מלכותךAs we explained yesterday, the Jews were deported from Israel in 586 BCE. ...

This is the sixteenth and last berakha of the section called 'requests' (baqashot). In this berakha we ask HaShem to listen to our prayers, to...

This berakha ends the section of "National Requests", the six blessings in which we pray God for our  gueula (=redemption) which is actually our...

תשכון בתוך ירושלים עירך In this blessing we ask HaShem 1. to restore His Presence in Yerushalayim. and 2. to reestablish the Throne of David....

על הצדיקים ועל החסידים In this blessing we ask haShem to protect and help the righteous and pious. Those who are committed to pursuing kindness,...

למינים ולמלשינים אל תהי תקווה The 'amida was composed around the Fifth Century BCE. Originally, the 'amida was known as the shemona 'esre (=eighteen) prayer, because it...

השיבה שופטינו כבראשונה    Previously, we explained the blessing  teqa' beshofar gadol "Make sound the Shofar... that will announce our redemption... and bring us back to the Land...

Not many details are known about the biographical data of rabbi Yosef Hayon (or Hayun). We know that he was born and died in...

תקע בשופר גדול לחרותינו  The 'amida is divided in three sections. The first section, which includes three blessings, consists in praising God. The third section,...

כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים ואת הארץ Shabbat is the day in which Jews celebrate Creation. On Shabbat we give our testimony that...

The 9th berakha of the Amida, barekhenu or barekh alenu, is the blessing in which we ask haShem to grant our livelihood (parnasa).   This blessing...

Rabbi Ya'aqob Kholi (aka Culi, Koli, etc) was born in Yerushalayim in 1689. In those days the situation of the Jews in Israel turned...

רְפָאֵנוּ ה' וְנֵרָפֵא "Cure us, Oh God, so we will be cured..."   In this berakha we acknowledge that God is the ultimate healer.  When we are...

ראה נא בענינו וריבה ריבנו Please see our suffering and fight our fights, and to grant us a complete salvation, for the sake of...

סלח לנו אבינו כי חטאנו , מחול לנו מלכנו כי פשענו "Forgive us, our Father, because we have inadvertently sinned; pardon us, our King, because...

Rabbi Binyamin ben Emanuel Musafia was born in Spain in 1606. He belonged to a family of "conversos", Jews that were forced to convert...

כי לא תחפוץ במות המת, כי אם בשובו מדרכו וחיה In this berakha we ask God to assist us in the process of our teshuba (=repentance). Literally,...