Maximize Your Moments
On Jewish festive days we say the Hallel prayer. In it we read a verse which says “Moshivi akaret habayit, eIm habanim smeicha” ” G-d takes a barren wife and makes her into a happy mother” – The Radak, a medieval rabbi, biblical commentator, philosopher, and grammarian (Rabbi David Kimhi) points out that aside from this verse teaching us of G-d’s full control over the world, it also hints to redemption. Rabbi Aaron Pessin shares this fascinating message.
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Why is Purim called Purim? We know that it’s explained in the scroll of Esther (Megilat Esther) that it’s called Purim because of the Pur / the lottery that Haman did. Pur is lottery in Hebrew. However Rabbi Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl explains a different reason, in a lighthearted/Purim fashion – Rabbi Aaron Pessin shares the essence of this special Jewish holiday.
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There’s a widely accepted custom when we go to the Synagogue and listen to the reading of Megillat Esther, we bang and make noise when we hear Haman’s name being read. What is the source to this tradition? Rabbi Aaron Pessin shares…
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In the Torah portion of Va’era we’re introduced to Moshe (Moses) and Aaron – two greats of the Jewish people. Sometimes Moses is mentioned first in the verse and sometimes Aaron is mentioned first. Why is this so? It’s explained that they were both equally as great. But that raises another question: How could that be? Everyone knows Moses and that he was the great leader of the Jewish people and the greatest prophet of Israel. How could it be that they were equal in greatness?
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In the Torah portion of Shemot, we read about the Jewish midwives. One of their names was Shifra and the other one was Puah. Yet we know that Shifra and Puah were actually Yocheved and Miram – the mother and sister or Moses. These are women who were also leaders of the Jewish people, why did the Torah give them names that represent seemingly menial tasks?
Rabb Ari Enkin shares…
Sometimes in life we may feel that “we’re not enough” – and that plays out by limiting our dreams, we feel like we are putting ourselves in a box, or we feel like we need to dress or speak a certain way so other people understand you. The truth is that with proper perspective, we are able to break through that feeling and tap into something much greater. Jacob Rupp brings out one of the concepts behind Chanukah
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A famous question is asked – Why do we celebrate 8 days of Chanukah, when the miracle was only 7 days? They found oil that would last 1 day and a miracle occurred and it lasted for 8 – so in theory we should only be celebrating 7 days of miracle, Why then do we celebrate 8 days? A book was written called “Yemei Shmonah” with 500 answers to this questions – Rabbi Pessin shares an important lesson for the Jewish people in their ongoing battle to uphold the Torah and the Jewish heritage.
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Chanukah is definitely one of the most widely observant holidays. No matter how far a Jew is from observance, he or she still has something Chanukah related in their home around this time of year. What is the secret to this connection to Chanukah? Rabbi Ari Enkin shares..
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The Talner Rebbe and the Slonimer Rebbe experience two similar scenarios on the night of Chanukah – In both scenarios an important lesson is learned. How would you react? Rabbi Pesson shares the Hanukkah insight.
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The Jewish law states that if someone doesn’t have a home, he is exempt from lighting the chanukah candles. But we should ask – If we lit the chanukah candles in the Beit Mikdash in the Holy Temple, why don’t we light candles in the synagogues which are considered “miniature Temples” – from this we learn an interesting lesson which Rabbi Aaron Pessin shares
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