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...
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...
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...
Time For Renewal
A couple of years ago I had the great honor of being called up for Choson Torah in Jerusalem. It was an emotional moment. Often an Aliya is a celebration of a new relationship such as a new child or grandchild, a new Choson or Kalah. This Aliya was a celebration of a...
Exposed to the Elements (Sukkos 2000)
I have become addicted to the news. I get news about Eretz Yisroel wherever I can. I have become an Arutz Sheva junkie wondering why they haven't updated in the past five minutes. I call Israel. I wake up with my clock radio blaring news and I talk to anyone who...
The Festival Cycle
Holidays are those times in the year which draw our attention to a special message underlying them. They ask us to take to heart certain fundamental truths that they aim to impress upon us. Rising above the other days of the year, they call us out of our humdrum existence, to dedicate to them our minds and lives.
Our daily life is devoted to our ordinary pursuits and activities by means of which we strive to build our future. The holidays interrupt our labors, to revive those fundamental ideas upon which our life is based.
Fulfilling our Dreams
All of us hope and pray that our children become greater than us. We want more for our children that we want for ourselves. Things that we settled for, things that we lived with or that we lived without we don't want for our children. How many of us did not have the...
The Lessons of the Ushpizin
Yesterday I attended the funeral of Andrew Fitzgerald. Andrew was a firefighter from Suffern who managed to save many lives on Sept. 11, before losing his own. I stood outside the Catholic Church on Rt. 59 in Suffern shivering in the cold with hundreds of others that...
Shmini Atzeres 2002
The Zohar (3:104) teaches that every night of Sukos we must have two kinds of guests. First one of our great ancestors join us in the sukkah. The Ushpizin. On the first night Avrohom comes to our sukkah, on the second night Yitzchak and so on. As we entertain these...
Don’t Be Afraid!
There are definitely two messages of this holiday. 'Leave your Diras Keva ' enter the temporary dwelling.- When we enter our sukkah we are exposed. Exposed to the world, to the elements, to the bees and mosquitoes; welcome to the holiday that celebrates golus. And...
Doing the Easy Mitzvos
There will come a time when the Nations of the world will realize that without Mitzvos their lives are not complete. They will complain to G-d of his unfairness and beg Him for a second chance. Hashem will respond, "I have an easy Mitzvah called Sukkah". Build...
Sukkos – Our Leap of Faith
Why the Sukah? "Because G-d made us dwell in Sukos when we left Egypt." Exactly what are we celebrating and remembering when we sit in a Sukah? There is a well-known dispute in the Gemarah. One opinion taught that we are celebrating the spirit of G-d. G-d protected us...
Being a Good Citizen
I have become addicted to the news. I get news about Eretz Yisroel wherever I can. I have become an Arutz Sheva junkie wondering why they haven't updated in the past five minutes. I call Israel. I wake up with my clock radio blaring news and I talk to anyone who...
From Preaching to Practicing
Someone told me a joke on Friday. There were two brothers living together. One was a medical doctor and the other was a Rabbi with a Ph.D. in Theology. Someone called the house and asked for Dr. Schwartz. "Which one?" asked the housekeeper, "the one who practices or...
Sukkos and Elie Weisel
Sukkos 1986