A Meditation for Rosh Hashanah The central commandment of Rosh Hashanah is to hear the sounding of the shofar. Its voice follows a structured sequence: the unwavering Tekiah, the broken sighs of Shevarim, the staccato weeping of Teruah, and the final, triumphant Tekiah Gedolah. Our tradition offers several reasons for this potent mitzvah: The Awakener: It serves as a spiritual alarm clock, a call to rouse us from the slumber of unconscious living (עורו ישנים משנתכם). The Herald: It sounds as coronation fanfare for the Divine King, announcing the sovereignty of God (Malchuyot). The Reminder: It recalls the Binding of Isaac (Akeidat Yitzchak), who was replaced by a ram, invoking the merit of our ancestors' ultimate faith and sacrifice. On the surface, these appear as distinct ideas. But perhaps they are interconnected strands of a single, profound truth about the journey of the human soul. The shofar is not sounding three different messages, but one integrated lesson told...

Introduction: The Liturgical Link between Rest and Supplication Selichot begin on Saturday night, the liturgy itself hints at a deeper logic with the phrase, "בְּמוֹצָאֵי מְנוּחָה קִדַּמְנוּךָ תְּחִלָּה" — "At the departure of rest, we approach You first." This raises a profound question: What is the intrinsic, thematic connection between m'nuchah (rest) and selichot (supplication)? Why does this service for the Days of Awe explicitly frame itself as the immediate successor to Shabbat? Part I: A Puzzling Midrash and a New Framework Our search for an answer leads us to a teaching in Bereshit Rabbah (11): Shabbat complained of having no partner, and God proclaimed the nation of Israel as its mate. The Problem: This seems arbitrary. If the days are paired sequentially (Sunday-Monday, etc.), Shabbat is left alone. So on what basis is Israel declared its partner? A Proposed Solution: Perhaps the pairing is not sequential, but thematic. As articulated by Rabbi Ouri C...

The Story of Bati bar Tuvi The Talmud at the end of Avodah Zara (76b) presents a striking narrative: כִּי הָא דְּמָר יְהוּדָה וּבָאטִי בַּר טוֹבִי הֲווֹ יָתְבִי קַמֵּיהּ דְּשַׁבּוּר מַלְכָּא, אַיְיתוֹ לְקַמַּיְיהוּ אֶתְרוֹגָא. פְּסַק אֲכַל, פְּסַק וְהַב לֵיהּ לְבָאטִי בַּר טוֹבִי, הֲדַר דָּצַהּ עַשְׂרָה זִימְנֵי בְּאַרְעָא, פְּסַק הַב לֵיהּ לְמָר יְהוּדָה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ בָּאטִי בַּר טוֹבִי: וְהָהוּא גַּבְרָא לָאו בַּר יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מָר קִים לִי בְּגַוֵּיהּ, וּמָר לָא קִים לִי בְּגַוֵּיהּ. This is like that incident involving Mar Yehuda and Bati bar Tuvi , a wealthy man, who were sitting before King Shapur , the king of Persia. The king's servants brought an etrog before them. The king cut a slice and ate it, and then he cut a slice and gave it to Bati bar Tuvi . He then stuck the knife ten times in the ground, cut a slice, and gave it to Mar Yehuda . Bati bar Tuvi said to him: And is that man, referring to himself, not Jewish? King Shapur said to him: I am cert...

In loving memory of my neighbor and friend who was taken suddenly from our midst. May his memory be a blessing . From Concern to Connection: A Siyum for the Soul A gitte voch, family, neighbors, friends. It is so good, and so important, to see everyone here together tonight. Rarely do we gather with so many layers at once: a Shloshim, a Wedding, a Siyum, a Melave Malka. Each would usually stand alone. Tonight, they intertwine. We are here in sadness, marking the shloshim of our dear friend and neighbor, Sruly. A presence is missing from our street, from our shul, from our lives. And yet, we are here in immense joy, to celebrate the wedding of our dear Sruly's oldest son Moishy to Ruti. A new family is being built; a new link is being forged in the chain of our people. And we are here to complete a sacred task—to make a siyum on the Mesechtos of Taanit, Megillah and Makkot that Sruly and I learned together every day. It was a project we began with grand plans but were, heartbr...