ה' שפתי תפתח ופי יגיד תהִלתך Before we begin the 'amida, we recite a very special verse from the book of Psalms, (51:15) "God, open...

 Rabbi Ya'aqob Berab was born in the town of Maqueda, near Toledo, Spain, in 1474.  His teacher was the celebrated rabbi Isaac Abohab, Gaon...

The 'amida is the most important prayer. It was composed by anshe keneset hagedola, the Men of the Great Assembly during the Fifth century...

Last week we explained that prayer, particularly the 'amida, requires kavana, the proper state of mind. When praying the 'amida we don't allow mundane...

The 'amida or Shemona-Esre --also called by our Rabbis "Tefila"-- is the most important prayer. It is said every day, three times a day,...

Last week we explained the idea of the hober, a wizard or enchanter who uses spells to invoke supernatural effects (seethis). By "spells" we mean...

In most Israeli cities snow is not very common.  This year, however, there were large amounts of snow, especially in Yerushalayim, and many rabbis referred...

Rabbi Ya'aqob Sasportas was born in Oran, Algeria, in 1610. A prodigious child, at the age of eighteen he was elected as the Dayan ...

We have written in previous HOTD about the views of modern orthodox rabbis regarding the celebration of different American holidays. We have seen that...

MT 'aboda zara 11:10:  "Who should be considered an enchanter? The one that cast spells that have nor meaning in a regular language,...