Exploring the Al-Chet Prayer
When one begins to look at the task of teshuva (repentance), it can be overwhelming. We’ve made so many mistakes this past year that it’s hard to know where to begin!...
The ABCs of Yom Kippur
ANGEL FOR A DAY What are “angels?” Angels are completely spiritual beings, whose sole focus is to serve their Creator. On Yom Kippur, every Jew becomes like an angel. As the...
Rav Shlomo Riskin: The Dual Nature of Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the great white fast of the Jewish Year. And since there are also additional prohibitions on that day – no sexual relations, no anointing...
Rav Avi Weiss on Yom Kippur ’58: A Joyous...
Yom Kippur is a serious day. It can be argued that a spirit of joy should also prevail. An understanding of teshuvah (repentance) explains why. On a behavioral level, Maimonides writes...
Breaking Heavenly Barriers
An interesting person in Jewish history was King Menashe — interesting, that is, in a negative sense. He was the son of King Chizkiahu, and one of his early acts was...
Kol Nidrei Night
Recently I heard a remarkable story. During the Second World War, a German soldier was mortally wounded in battle, and as he fell, a priest rushed up to administer the last...
Yom Kippur Stories
An Interesting Halachic Ruling One Yom Kippur, the gabbai (synagogue beadle) told Rabbi Chaim Sanzer that a certain congregant, wealthy and miserly, had fainted from the fast and needed some water....
The Shofar of Elul and the Days of Awe
We did not blow the Shofar on the last day of Elul, the morning before Rosh HaShanah, in order to “confuse the Satan.” Perhaps this means that the Satan would think...
Torah Readings on Yom Kippur
On the morning of Yom Kippur, two Torah Scrolls are removed from the Aron HaKodesh (Holy Ark). The Torah Reading is from Vayikrah (Leviticus) Chapter 16, verse 1-34. This portion discusses...
The High Priest’s Temple Service on Yom Kippur
“And the Kohanim and the people standing in the Courtyard – when they would hear the glorious, awesome Name, the Ineffable one, emanating from the Kohen Gadol’s mouth, in holiness and...
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