Rabbi Sender Haber

Rabbi, Monsey, NY

Be The Matzah

Dough is one of the most unwieldy and uncooperative items in the kitchen. I’ve seen dough rise back out of the Garbage can, push open the door of the refrigerator and jump out of the bread machine and onto the floor. It has a life of its own. Wine ferments in a staid...

Good Idea? (Acharei Mos)

After the death of Aharon’s two sons Moshe came and told Aharon that he should not enter the Kodesh Hakodashim. Rav Yosi Haglili confirms that the sons of Aharon had been killed as a punishment for their entry. Something seems wrong here. If the sons were punished for...

“Tur Tur”

“The blossoms have appeared in the land; the time of singing has arrived and the call of the turtledove is heard in our land.” (Song of Songs 2:12) The TurtleDove (Streptopelia turtur) gets her name from her distinctive, purring, gentle and evocative TurTur sound as...

Rules and Reasons – Understanding The “Chok”

A Chok is a Mitzvah without any apparent reason. Some Mitzvos, like kindness, Tzadaka, and not killing are commandments that could have emerged in any thinking society. Other mitzvos, like Shofar and Lulav, are Mitzvos that we do just because Hashem told us to do...

What You Don’t Know Won’t Hurt You

Knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially when it is biblical. To know something biblically is to become intimately and personally familiar with it in a way that we cannot separate ourselves from our knowledge. We grow up knowing that everything G-d does is for the...