The Mitzvah of Counting In this week’s Torah reading we have the mitzvah (commandment) of Sefirat Ha’Omer (Vayikra 23:15-16). The mitzvah is to count every day from the second day […]
Shabbat and Holidays
Celebrate the giving of the Torah with insights into Shavuot’s themes, customs, and spiritual power.
Introduction Many of the following laws are adapted with permission from the wonderful Hebrew sefer (book), Kovetz Halachot on Sefirat HaOmer (Passover), a collection of Halachic decisions from Rabbi Shmuel […]
One of the many mitzvot mentioned in our parashah is the mitzvah of Aliyah LaRegel — ascending to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) three times a year. Jews would travel from far and […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz My parents are constantly negative, critical, and full of complaints. I know it’s a mitzvah to honor them, but every time I speak […]
Shavuot – The Joy of Receiving the Torah Shavuot is the day the Jewish nation received the Torah, and every year on this day we celebrate the fact that we […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz I know that staying up all night learning Torah on Shavuot is a beautiful custom, but when my son does it, he ends […]
Tangible Mitzvot What are the symbols of Shavuot? Most of the holidays in the Jewish year have a tangible mitzvah (commandment). On Pesach (Passover) we eat matzah and drink four […]
Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz I can’t comprehend how the Jewish people could commit the sin of the Golden Calf! How, after witnessing the Ten Plagues, the Splitting […]
On the second night of Passover, Jews begin counting something known as Sefirat Haomer or “The Counting of the Omer”. Beginning on the first night from number one, we count […]
Mazal Tov! A tale is told of two great Torah scholars of the early 1900s, Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik of Brisk, and Rabbi Shimon Shkop of Grodno zt”l. “Reb Shimon” as […]
