Divrei Mav

Sukkos 2018 Leaving Your Comfort Zone After the high holidays of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur we have the holiday of Sukkos . Sukkos in the Torah is called “ zman simchaseinu ”, a time of happiness, as there is an extra special mitzvah to be joyous on these days. On Sukkos we construct temporary huts called “ sukkahs ” with four walls and a roof typically made of tree branches or even wood or bamboo. We are required to dwell in the sukkah for the term of the holiday. The sukkahs are to remind us how Hashem protected the people while they travelled for forty years in the desert (either in actual makeshift huts, or with the Clouds of Glory). The sequence of sukkos is set up as follows. There are two days of yom tov in which we are required to dwell in our sukkahs and take the four species ( lulav , esrog , hadasim , and aravos ) while still observing the laws similar to that of Shabbos . Then there are intermediate days called “ chol hamoed ” where one is permi

Parshas Haazinu 2018 Overlooked and Forgotten With only fifty two verses, our parsha is not only small, but it’s usually overlooked. Haazinu is always read right after Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur and right before Sukkos . With all the excitement from the holidays one could easily overlook this parsha . Yet, in this parsha Moshe Rabbeinu calls upon the Heaven and Earth to bear witness to all that will befall the B’nai Yisroel if they sin and all the joy that will come with the final redemption if they remain true to Hashem -obviously it behooves us to pay attention to all the details of this week’s parsha . The parsha is actually a song composed by Moshe Rabbeinu . It’s poetic format makes it quite different to read than any other parsha , especially because the wording is cryptic and it’s content esoteric. The nature of the song is expressing the complete harmony of Creation. Everything runs ever-so-smoothly without us having to think twice. (Grass doesn'

Yom Kippur 2018 You Should’ve Been There Yom Kippur is the pinnacle of the high holidays. A time when we completely submerge ourselves in a full day of prayers to Hashem . We reflect on the previous year and take ownership for our sins. We invest our every fiber in begging for His forgiveness and express our embarrassment and remorse. To show an additional level of sincerity, we refrain from various “pleasures” during the holiday. We don’t eat, drink, bathe, don leather footwear, anoint ourselves, or have marital relations. All this in an effort to earn Hashem’s mercy before He seals His judgement of us. On Yom Kippur afternoon during the Mincha service we read from the Torah and then follow the reading with a haftorah . A haftorah is a section of scripture pertaining to the preceeding Torah portion. This haftorah during mincha is very appropriate as it’s a story about teshuva (repentance). The story of Yona (Jonah) is well known. Briefly, the story goes as follows: Hashem

Parshas Vayelech 2018 Effort is Everything It was Moshe Rabbeinu’s final moments as he continued to inspire and encourage the nation to fulfill Hashem’s Torah . Moshe’s successor and star pupil, Yehoshua was to take over after his passing and lead the people into the land of Israel. Hashem assured Yehoshua , “Be strong and courageous! For you will bring the jewish people to the land that I have sworn them.” ( Deuteronomy 31:23) Moshe , as we recall, wasn't allowed in Israel. The most he was allowed was a view from a mountain top where he could see the land in its glory but to enter, he was forbidden. Back in Parshas Chukas, Moshe had disobeyed Hashem . Hashem commanded Moshe when the people were dying of thirst, to “speak” to the rock of Miriam . Yet, Moshe instead struck the rock. Much discussion has ensued from this incident as to why Moshe hit the rock versus speaking to it. (A discussion for another time). The consequences for this mistake were extreme