Responding to a question submitted to Jew in the City, Rabbi Jack Abramowitz tackles the issue of balancing the observance of mitzvot (particular ones that involve fire or heating up food) with taking proper safety precautions in our homes. Read the full article on Jew in the City View the FDNY’s guide to fire safety

“The lion has roared, who will not fear” (Amos:3:8). “אַרְיֵה שָׁאָג, מִי לֹא יִירָא” The Shelah Hakadosh (Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz 1555-1630) suggests that this verse hints to this precise time of year. The word lion, aryeh, should be read as an acronym: Alef = Elul, Resh = Rosh Hashanah, Yud = Yom Kippur, Heh =

From OU Holidays! What are Hoshanos? Why do we say them? Why is the schedule the way it is? What’s “Ani Vaho?” Find out all this and more with this colorful, downloadable PDF!

Shlomo Horwitz is the founding director of Jewish Crossroads, an educational theater project that has provided creative Torah programming across the US, Canada, England and Israel. He studied at Yeshivat Shaalvim and Yeshivat Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, where he received ordination from Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg. Shlomo is a CPA and a director of a consulting

On July 5, 1945, the world witnessed one of the greatest “betrayals” in the annals of human existence. Two months after the Allied victory over the Nazis, in one of the most crushing political upsets in history, Winston Churchill was defeated in English Parliamentary elections. Shockingly, one of history’s greatest leaders, who led a weakened

The crisis was real. My wife had tried to bake bread and left it in the oven for the right amount of time at the right temperature. But the results were poor. It wasn’t fully baked. There were other issues as well. Certain foods were undercooked and needed to be reinserted for a longer period.

Everyone knows that the reason we fast on Tisha b’Av is because we are mourning the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple that stood in Jerusalem.  Everyone but the Rambam, Maimonides. In his commentary to the first chapter of Tractate Rosh Hashanah, the Rambam presents an interesting assertion with regards to Jewish history.  He

Thinking about the upcoming observance of Tisha b’Av, I was struck by a bit of irony. (At least, I think it’s irony, though I’ve been a little paranoid ever since I heard a song mocking Alanis Morissette’s use of the word “ironic.” I comfort myself that I’m unlikely to make it so big that people

We recently had the privilege of speaking with Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb about the deeper meaning of Tisha B’Av. Rabbi Weinreb, a clinical psychotherapist and internationally-renowned Torah scholar, hosts the OU’s annual Tisha B’Av webcast. He is also the translator of the kinot in The Lookstein Edition of the Mesorat HaRav Kinot (co-published with the OU).

1. What is Tisha b’Av? Tisha b’Av – the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av – is the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a number of tragedies that occurred on that date, most notably the destruction of both Temples, some five centuries apart. 2. Why did so many tragedies occur