As we conclude Yom Kippur, we are instructed by Chazal to start looking forward to Succot and begin constructing the succah immediately that evening. We are to look forward to zman simchatenu , … more

In 2005, Steve Jobs delivered the commencement address at Stanford University. In it, he described how he had started Apple in a garage at age 20, and after ten years of hard work, built it into a … more

Among the festivals that give rhythm and structure to the Jewish year, Sukkot is unusual, unique. A detail which had a significant influence on Jewish liturgy appears in the book of Deuteronomy: … more

Finally returning home to Israel has been both tremendously uplifting and infuriating. Uplifting because to be home, in the greatest city in the world, Yerushalayim, with incredible weather, great … more

Do you ever hear voices? I do, especially at this time of year. During these ten-days of teshuvah , between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Jews become more contemplative, serious, and given to … more

Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, author of “Eim Habanim Semeichah,” described a Kol Nidrei during the Holocaust, Yom Kippur 1942. He was in Hungary, from which mass deportations wouldn’t begin … more

Approaching Shabbos Shuva, I have a notepad in front of me with a list of things I need to work on. I am looking down at it now, and I see lashon hara . That is not an easy one for me. Sometimes … more

To those who fully open themselves to it, Yom Kippur is a life-transforming experience. It tells us that G-d, who created the universe in love and forgiveness, reaches out to us in love and … more

This period of the year demands two kinds of spiritual commitment. The first is charatah, regret: an honest inner search of our past year’s behavior, especially conduct that was sinful, immoral, … more

I remember, as a boy, standing beside my father in shul during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, listening as he recited Avinu Malkeinu. Two words in Hebrew, four in English: Our Father, Our King. … more