Lifting voices for the High Holidays, even in COVID times
Like Maestro Leonard Bernstein guiding young people through the joys and intricacies of classical music two generations ago, Joey Weisenberg is a gentle, but no less passionate, tutor. He’s not teaching about the bravado...
The Jewish world commemorates Tisha B’av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar
The Jewish world will commemorate Tisha Beav, the saddest day on the Hebrew calendar due to the misfortunes and calamities that have occurred throughout its millennial history.
The Mishnah, in the treaty Taanit (fasting) chapter...
Mourning in 2020: Tisha B’Av spotlights losses old and new
This year Jews the world over got into the Tisha B’Av mood several months earlier than usual.
During a typical summer, Jewish families and individuals tear themselves away from family vacations, beach outings, amusement parks...
Memories of a Tisha B’Avs past
I am writing this on a long, lazy Tisha B’Av afternoon. The sky is brilliant blue and a gentle breeze is beckoning me outside to get on my bike. No, not today. I must...
‘Turn It and Turn It, for Everything Is in It’: A Torah commentary for...
Rabbi Jonathan Kligler wears a number of different hats. First and foremost, he has led the Woodstock Jewish Congregation in Upstate New York since 1988, a fact that melds well with his being a...
Shavuot and the rule of law
Beginning at sunset on May 28 and until sunset on May 30, Jews the world over will be celebrating the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost), in commemoration of receiving the Torah (the Five Books of Moses), that...
Return to Eden
Dear Reader — if you are looking to be happy, creative, in harmony with God and with the universe, the Torah has the answer — Return to the Source.
When we speak about Returning to...
A Shavuot revelation
Shavuot is a mysterious holiday. This commemoration of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai isn’t given a specific date for its celebration; instead we are told in Sefer Sh’mot (the Book of Exodus) to schedule it...
Shavuot for kids: Giving a new generation the gift of Torah
It’s one of the most dramatic scenes in the Torah, as amazing as the splitting of the sea.
Imagine the Master of the Universe coming down to Earth in an astounding fireworks display of thunder,...