One of the most unusual aspects of the Yovel (Jubilee) year is the return of land to its original owners. This reversion of (most) real estate back to its ancestral owners at Yovel was explained in an earlier d’var Torah as reflective of Yovel’s theme of Teshuva. The shofar is blown on Yom Kippur during Yovel, every Eved

Upon first glance, Parshas Acharei Mos appears to be extremely disjointed, for the first three aliyos of the parshah describe Avodas Yom Ha-Kippurim, the spectacular Yom Kippur Service in the Beis Ha-Mikdash, while the rest of the parshah addresses aveiros (sins) of desecration, such as sacrificing sanctified animals in unholy locations rather than in the Beis

The Torah’s treatment of a house that is contaminated by Tzora’as is quite unusual. Aside from the remarkable and exceptional notion of a house being afflicted with Tzora’as, Halacha states that a house cannot be declared as contaminated by Tzora’as unless the Tzora’as spots are visible in the house’s interior by natural sunlight. A house

“Rava said: One is required to become intoxicated on Purim until the point that he cannot differentiate between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be Mordechai.’” (Gemara Megillah 7b) Why is inebriation halachically mandated? Do other forms of celebration not suffice to express our joy at the salvation precipitated by the nes (miracle) of Purim? The

One of the highlights of Chanukah in Washington Heights is the candlelighting at K’hal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ/”Breuer’s”) and the singing of Maoz Tzur by the KAJ choir between Mincha and Maariv. (Please click here and here to view more.) This event, aside from being inherently inspiring, undoubtedly arouses various thoughts and feelings on the part

The recent killing of an African lion (”Cecil”) in Zimbabwe by American dentist Walter Palmer is despicable on so many levels. Dr. Palmer lured the lion outside of its legally protective habitat, shot it with a crossbow, and then stalked the maimed and pained lion for 40 hours, until finally gunning it down, skinning and

Every morning, I come to work at OU headquarters, located at 11 Broadway, where I serve as a rabbinic coordinator for OU Kosher, administering the kosher programs of approximately 90 dairy companies, comprising about 200 facilities. Even though OU headquarters has been located at 11 Broadway for 15 years, the “kosher history” of 11 Broadway