by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber | Oct 9, 2009
Many shuls have a Simchas Torah auction. In this auction the honors of the day, the aliyos, hakafos, Mussaf and so on are sold to the highest bidder. Many synagogues take this a step further and sell the honors for the whole year such as the ‘honor’ of being allowed...
by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber | Aug 21, 2009
We had previously discussed the specialness of nocturnal Torah study. I would like to qualify that with an interesting limitation on night-time Torah study. The Medrash reports that when Moshe Rabeinu ascended Mt. Sinai, the way he was able to differentiate between...
by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber | Aug 11, 2009
At the end of the list of events that took place on Tu B’Av the Gemara (Taanis 31a) declares: Now that the nights are getting longer, people must learn more Torah at night. One who learns Torah at night will have increased longevity and one who does not learn Torah at...
by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber | May 22, 2009
This post was written on the yahrtzeit of my grandfather Matisyahu ben Chaim Rafael and is dedicated to his memory. May his neshama have an aliyah There is a widespread custom to stay up all night on Shavous and study Torah. There is an interesting history to this...
by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber | Mar 5, 2009
It is common practice in many communities worldwide to have a second reading of Parshas Zachor in the afternoon for women who weren’t able to make it to shul for various reasons. I’d like to take a closer look at the background of Parshas Zachor and this practice in...
