With only a few days till the end of the Jewish year, shouldn’t we be breaking out the Champagne and the party hats? Please click below to see additional formats:
One of the most difficult things in this world is to change. To become more than we are. To realize our true potential. We don't want to change. We'd rather sit by the pool and watch the water-lilies float-to-and-fro. Any true change is painful. The Hebrew month of Elul is the time that demands from us to leave our comfort zone and realize our true spiritual potential.
Have you ever noticed that from the Earth, the Sun and the Moon look exactly the same size? Is it just a coincidence? Maybe there's a deeper meaning to this?
Nineteen hundred years ago, the twenty-five thousand pupils of Rebbe Akiva all died in the days of the Omer between Pesach and Shavuot. This was a punishment for not treating each other with enough respect. The majority of the days Omer are in the month of Iyar. Thus Iyar is a time for us to work on improving respect for others.
Pesach has matza, the Seder, the four cups of wine, "Ma nishtana.…" Succot has the Four Species and the succah. Shavuot, however, has no single identifying mitzva, no recognizable landmark in its scenery. Why?
The ‘Shema’ is the basic credo of the Jewish People – that God is One. But why do we say, “Hear O Israel!” rather than “See O Israel!” or “Know O Israel!? Having trouble viewing this video? Please click below to see additional formats: