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May 29, 2023, 10:15 PM

What is the value of Jewish laws?

I understand that Jewish laws are valuable because they help us learn how to behave and improve ourselves and society. "Values in Halakha" is by Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein (1933-2015). He was an eminent rabbinic scholar and teacher who served...

May 19, 2023, 1:27 PM

R. Aharon Lichtenstein’s Ever Relevant Message for Yom Yerushalayim

Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l and Rav Yehuda Amital zt"l used Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim as opportunities to demonstrate gratitude, to provide introspection, and to dream for the future during these important holidays. Their talks are now printed in B'shuvecha...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Jul 15, 2021, 1:36 PM

Should we update the Nachem prayer?

On Tisha B’Av afternoon, the Nachem prayer is added into the amida of the Mincha service: Console O Lord our God, The mourners of Zion The mourners of Jerusalem, And the city that is in sorrow, laid waste, Scorned and desolate; That grieves for the...

Elchanan Poupko

Dec 22, 2020, 7:30 AM

The 10th of Tevet & The Forgotten Kaddish

The 10th of the month of Tevet has been a day of fasting for Jews for more than 2,500 years. The mention of the tragedy of this day goes farther back than any other Jewish fast, with the exception...

Nov 8, 2020, 11:31 AM

A Rabbi of All of Israel and Humankind

Ki nach nafshai d'Rav Lichtenstein, when Rav Aharon Lichtenstein passed away in 2015, it felt like a punch in the gut. Tears were flowing for a true Gadol B'Yisrael (a Giant in Israel), whose Torah I consumed, even though...

Sep 17, 2020, 8:56 AM

Happy new year?

This is a weird Rosh Hashanah. My minyan is going to blow only 60 Shofar notes, and we’re not yet sure which of the many PIYUTIM (liturgical poems) we will actually chant. Rosh Hashanah guests are a non-starter. Maybe...

Sep 3, 2020, 10:50 AM

Be happy, or else!

It’s time again for the annual frightening of the Jews. Every year before the High Holidays we read one of the two sections of the Torah called the TOCHACHA. This term is translated variously as ‘chastisement’, ‘curses’, ‘rebuke’ or...

Jul 23, 2020, 9:02 AM

Help! Not just anybody!

One of the salient ideas about governance is that it requires cooperation. No country, state or large assemblage of people can be managed by one person. Even the smallest human groupings require responsibility sharing to function well. Therefore, it...

Jun 7, 2020, 5:49 AM

The Jewish Response To Racism

This past week we have all witnessed the outrage around the world in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, USA. Let’s be clear, this killing was brutal, totally unlawful, shocking and despicable. The fact that it...

May 28, 2020, 8:29 AM

Rav Aharon Lichtenstein OB”M pointed out a difficulty in the Torah’s text about the festival we call Shavuot or ‘Weeks’: It is well known that although we refer to Shavuot in our prayers as "Zeman Matan Toratenu" (the time of our receiving the...

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