I was in Evanston last week at the “Kosher Jewel” to pick up a couple of items and as I glanced at the packages in the kosher meat...

The word “nusach” which in modern Hebrew means a formula, a version, or a rite, with regard to the prayer service, is used in two...

During the past two weeks we have entered into a period of preparation for the High Holiday season which will soon be upon us.  I wrote a...

This week, we come to the end of the three weeks, beinhametzarim, between the straits, the two fast days, that I wrote about a couple of...

For the past year, I have been serving, in addition to my rabbinic duties at Temple B’nai Israel, as one of the registry chaplains at...

Unless we regularly consult the Jewish calendar, many of us are blissfully unaware of the significance of the period of time that is...

It continues to amaze me as I examine Jewish traditions of prayer, that even after four years of weekly columns, close to 200 essays,...

Several years back, I stumbled upon some interesting volumes published by a young Orthodox rabbi from Great Britain, living in Israel,...

Friends, As the threat of Covid recedes, more and more activities have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Of course, now that we have been...

Most rabbis by now have given up on explaining that there is really no verb “to bar mitzvah someone” or to be “bat mitzvahed.”  Bar and...

I still have fond memories of younger years in college and Seminary joining in song around the Shabbat table. I’ve written about it...

This week’s exciting news in the world of Judaica was the report of the purchase of the oldest known, nearly complete, manuscript codex...

Over the years I have been affiliated with a variety of Jewish institutions.  Some have called themselves “synagogues.”  Others prefer...

In earlier essays I’ve written about some of the joyous Shabbat songs, Zemirot, traditionally sung around the table at mealtimes. We...

For many, Shabbat provides a much-needed respite in the midst of a very busy weekday schedule.  It can be a time for rest and relaxation,...

The main mitzvah that we attempt to fulfill at the Passover Seder is the telling of the story of the Exodus to our children and to...

On the Shabbat prior to Passover, Shabbat HaGadol, we read the concluding portion of the book of Malachi, the last of the prophets, as...

A couple of years back in this series, I devoted an essay to the traditional inclusion in the preliminary prayers of the daily service of...

Now that Purim has come and gone, we are in the last thirty days prior to the holiday of Pesach.  Aside from shopping, cleaning, and...

As we move into the month of Adar, we mark this Shabbat the second of the four special shabbatot during the late winter and early spring...