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]....
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...
Teshuvah – Bringing Out the Beauty of Our Souls
There is a standard metaphor that we are taught as children. On the Day of Judgment God, the judge, sits on His chair with a large scale in front of him. Not a digital scale or the type of scale that you would see in the butcher shop or the vegetable store but an old...
Forgiveness Exercises
A. Make a list of the people you have hurt including your relatives. Next to each name indicate what you did and the effect it had. Write down why you feel badly about it. Try asking them or writing them a letter for forgiveness. If the person is no longer alive take...
The Ten Days of Repentance
The great days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, together with the seven days in between, are the ten days of repentance. These days provide the Jewish people with a unique opportunity to repent and improve themselves. G-d is particularly close to Israel during these...
Commitment, Kol Nidrei
Kol Nidrei really bothers me. Through the year we have made many types of commitments. We have committed our money our time and ourselves. In Kol Nidrei we enumerate seven types of commitment we may have made. We recite a formula that absolves us of any commitment we...
The Essence of Yizkor
I had a powerful experience I'd like to share with you. About six weeks ago I traveled with my family to Buffalo, the city that I grew up in. I took advantage of the trip and went to visit my mother's A"H kever. It was a beautiful summer day, which presented a very...
Forgiveness
G-d's capacity for forgiveness is infinite. A person has a choice whether or not to sin. It doesn't say anywhere that a person cannot do Teshuva even for the sin of murder. Teshuva helps. For example Menashe the wicked king killed thousands of people. At the end of...
We make the Difference, Kol Nidrei 2000
On this Yom Kippur we must all be aware of the following fact. The big decisions that will be made in the world will not be made in the Knesset. They will not be made in the White House. They will not be made in The United Nations. They will be made in Shul! Yes, our...
My Neighbors Neshama, Kol Nidrei 1999
I rewrote my Kol Nidrei Drosha today. Actually you rewrote my Kol Nidrei Drosha today. Rav Yisroel Salanter once commented that we have a natural tendency to worry about our own physical welfare and be very concerned about the welfare of our neighbors Neshama. Our...
The Kehilla of Our Dreams, Yizkor 1999
Two Kohanim were once racing toward the mizbeach. Each one wanted to do the service. Each one wanted the Mitzvah. One Kohein reached the Mizbeach seconds before the other. The loser took his ritual knife and stabbed the other Kohein in the heart. Everyone present...