Israel's major oil export is true pure oil. Join me for three minutes to learn about Parashat Vayeshev and Chanukah! In memory of Leah bas Avraham Chaim ת.נ.צ.ב.ה https://youtu.be/dDDE-6oigrs
The Miracle Has Already Begun | Chanukah 2020
When do miracles begin? Join me for three minutes to learn about Chanukah!
Kitzur Hilchos Chanukah (Audio)
A short daily Halacha explaining the background and the laws of Chanukah. Learn about Chanukah with Rabbi Yaacov Haber.
A Different Rosh Hashanah | Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Rosh Hashanah 2020
This years Rosh Hashanah will be like no other. what is Rosh Hashanah like under COVID-19? Let's use this opportunity properly.
WHO KNOWS? | Shavuot 5780 (COVID-19)
Dedicated in loving memory of my Father Simcha Ben Tzvi Hirsch Haber ת.נ.צ.ב.ה. Do you know why the Corona Virus happened? What dont you know? Join Rabbi Yaacov Haber for 3 minutes in ushering in Shavuot 5780. https://youtu.be/CXrOy3i70S8
Purim: History & Destiny | Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Purim 5780
An in-depth Shiur on the history and destiny of Purim. Source sheet: http://www.sefaria.org.il/sheets/222509 https://youtu.be/wOBojxKAxLc
PURIM; The Kabbalah of Happiness | Rabbi Yaacov Haber | Purim 5779
The Halacha and Spirit of Purim. A Shiur for women at KEHILLAT SHIVTEI YESHURUN. https://youtu.be/hP2gA1ACnmo
Free From Nature | Shavuos 5779
Letting Go
These are my words at Kehillat Shivtei Yeshurun, Ramat Beit Shemesh this Rosh HaShanah. They are still pertinent today. The words that I’d like to share with you tonight actually took me about 50 years to prepare. Tonight, as we greet Rosh HaShanah into our lives, I’d...
A Brand New World; Where do I Fit In?
"היום הרת עולם היום יעמיד במשפט כל יצורי עולמים" "Today is the birth day of the world; today all creations are judged." The world was created on Rosh HaShanah and according to our sages it is recreated every year on Rosh HaShanah. It's a new world, complex and...
The Journey Is Coming To An End
I’m feeling okay about the nine days this year. Even Tisha B’Av! That may sound radical, so let’s explain why. The Talmud (Yoma 5) describes a scene toward the desecration and destruction of the Beis HaMikdash by the Babylonians. According to the Medrash in Eicha, a...
Turning on G-d’s light
Our function in this world is to activate G-d's light. G-d said: "Light the Menorah and the world will see that it is not I that illuminate the world but you." (Medrash Shmos Rabba 36;2) When the world was created G-d said "Let there be light!" From the beginning of...
From Tallis to Timberlands
There is an old story about a man who attended Daf Yomi and knew just how to build a sukkah. He bought his lumber, marked off the shiurim, measured for lavud, made his plumb line. He followed the Gemara exactly and was very proud of his perfect sukkah. With a big...
The Jewish Neshama
Some years ago while serving as a Rabbi in Buffalo, New York I remember standing at my place in Shul, Sunday morning, seeing the large oak door to the Shul open a crack. There at the door was an elderly woman, a member of the congregation, who was motioning for me to...
When Blessings Conflict
A dream is the first step of any new venture. We see a vision for our lives, our families, our community and the world we live in. We dream about how the world can be improved, and of the contribution that we can make. I personally dream of a life of Torah and a home...
Don’t Hog The Blanket!
This Thursday we will commemorate the Tenth of Tevet. The day Nebuchadnezar began his occupation of Jerusalem. All the Jews had lived in the Land of Israel for eight hundred and fifty years. The Bais HaMikdash in Jerusalem, built by Shlomo HaMelech, was four hundred...
What Side Are We On?
The Chanukah story took place 2190 years ago in the year 176 BCE. At that time the Jews lived in Israel in relative peace. Yet, while we were living a traditional Jewish lifestyle in Jerusalem a world revolution was going on. The Syrian-Greeks who were the strongest...
Breaking Heavenly Barriers
An interesting person in Jewish history was King Menashe -- interesting, that is, in a negative sense. He was the son of King Chizkiahu, and one of his early acts was to kill his grandfather, the prophet Isaiah [see the drosha on Shabbos Shuva for some background]....
Just One Droplet
The story of Lag B’Omer, Rebbi Akiva, the founding of the Oral Torah under Roman Persecution. The lesson of the rock.
Whatever You Do – Do It Like A Jew!
Having compassion on a poor man or woman is not just because he may be Elijah the Prophet. Judaism should be synonymous with integrity.
From Darkness to Great Light
Today is Purim Kattan. It’s not the real Purim, because Purim must fall on the last month of the year, yet it still a day of celebration and happiness. From a seasonal and holiday perspective, Nissan, the month of Pesach, is the first of all months, and Adar is the...
Searching for Light
I was thinking about Chanuka, and a new idea occurred to me. Chanuka, the Festival of Lights, occurs at the darkest time of the year -- the time when you would least expect it. And this is an important characteristic of Judaism: that light, and holiness, occur where...
Make Yourself Count!
As the band played and the spirits were high on Purim I looked around at the many friends that joined me and realized that perhaps one of the main messages of Purim may be getting lost on all of us. The Jewish people were in trouble. A woman by the name of Ester and a...
A Call To Action
The great achievement of the Jews during the first Shabbos HaGodol was that they actually performed a deed which was calculated to violate the sensibilities of the Egyptians: they bought Paschal lambs from the Egyptians, and explained to the Egyptians that these lambs...
Tips For the New Year
The Parsha speaks about Teshuvah. The great Ezra designed the calendar so that this Parsha will always be read before Rosh HaShanah so that at this exact time of year our hearts and minds should be focused on improving our relationship with the Almighty. Recently I...
The Eicha Revolution
The Kotzker Rebbe observed: “There is no place lonelier than a room full of people.” Walk into a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah. Everyone is eating, dancing and singing. Who would think that loneliness is even possible in this room? But if you are a stranger in that room,...
Thumbs Down
In Talmudic times the Sukos dancing at the Simchas Beis Hashoeva was reserved for the leaders of the generation. This was a Simcha the likes of which no other simcha can be compared. Raban Shimon ben Gamliel would dance in the middle. The Talmud reports that he would...
A Different Kind of Rosh Hashanah!
Depending on who and when you ask the Jewish year either begins in the month of Tishrei, at Rosh Hashanah time, or a couple of weeks before Pesach in Nissan. Why do we have two new years? The answer lies in the season of each New Year. Tishrei and Rosh Hashanah occur...
Zachor
There was a boiling hot bath. Everyone wanted to go in but they were afraid. One brazen fellow plunged in. Once he leaped in everyone jumped in after him. When the Jews left Egypt they were hot, very hot. The surrounding nations heard about all the miracles that...
When Jews Show Passion
Dedicated by the Sitzer family in memory of their grandmother and my great aunt, Chaya Rachel bas Menashe Sitzer a"h (nee Haber) who left this world in 5735 (1975). She arrived in the United States from Europe in 1921 with 3 children (the fourth child was born in...