The culmination of the Three Weeks, an annual time of mourning the destruction of The Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) is Tisha b’Av. It is the saddest day of the Jewish year and the most calamitous in our history. So great was our pain on this day as a nation, that each year we commemorate it […]

Dear Jew in the City, Can we understand the fall of the Assad regime as the fall of Damascus described by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai?  Thanks, Alexis   Dear Alexis Thanks for your question, which I didn’t understand at all. In asking for clarification, I was directed to a tweet in which some rabbi cites […]

During the Days of Awe, the blasts of the shofar are meant to awaken our slumbering soul. As Maimonides writes: In the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashana, there is an allusion, as though saying: Awake you sleepers from your sleep, and slumberers arise from your slumbering…All who forget the truth in the follies […]

The culmination of the Three Weeks, an annual time of mourning the destruction of The Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) is Tisha b’Av. It is the saddest day of the Jewish year and the most calamitous in our history. So great was our pain on this day as a nation, that each year we commemorate it […]

Dear Jew in the City, How will we celebrate Pesach after Moshiach comes? Sincerely, Isaac   Dear Isaac, Thanks for your question, though I wonder exactly what prompts it. I have two hypotheses, which I’ll address separately. It could be that you’re asking whether Pesach will still be a holiday when Moshiach comes. This is […]

Dear Jew in the City, Is the world supposed to be upside down before Moshiach comes? How are people accusing Israel of doing the horrific things Hamas has done?  Sincerley, Oren   Dear Oren, Thanks for your questions. I’m breaking it down into three parts, which I’ll address separately: (1) “Is the world supposed to […]