HILKHOT TESHUBA 4:2 When the King repents
Maimonides explains the difficulties of admitting to ourselves that we have sinned. Taking charge of our misdeeds -hakarat haHet- is probably the hardest step in...
HILKHOT TESHUBA 4:1-2. Obstacles in the way of Teshuba
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...
HILKHOT TESHUBA 3:14 Maimonides on Bullying
In the third chapter of Hilkhot Teshuba, Halakha 5, Maimonides asserts that the Jews, and the righteous among the gentiles (haside ummot ha'olam), will...
HILKHOT TESHUBA 2:1: Forgiveness and quality of life
Yesterday we explained that when somebody apologizes for an offense or for a wrong thing he or she did to us, we should be...
HILKHOT TESHUBA 1:1: to be or not to be specific?
Maimonides explains that the commandment of Teshuba is fulfilled when we recite the Viduy. Viduy is the verbal confession of our transgressions, while feeling...
The # 1 Mitzva of the Tora
The first Mitzva of the Tora and the first blessing given by haShem to humankind is to marry and have children. Genesis 1:28 says: "And...
SELIHOT: Training for a Marathon day
From the second day of the month of Elul (today!) until Yom Kippur, the Sephardic custom is to recite the Selihot prayer.Selihot is a...
RELIGIOUS INTEGRITY: The Honest YES
In the Tora it is written: (vayiqra 19:36) "Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin ; I am the LORD your God,...
Rabbi Ya’akob Hajez (1620-1674)
Rabbi Ya'aqob Hajez (aka Hagiz) was born in Fez, Morocco in 1620. In 1657 and after living in Livorno (Italy) for a few years, Rabbi Hajez settled...
Maimonides on how did Abraham Abinu find God?
Maimonides (MT, 'abodat kokhabim, 1:3) explains that since his early childhood and while everyone else was adoring human-looking idols, Abraham began to think out of...
