Sermons
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On September 28th, 1997, I made my way to Madison Square Garden for a historic event. On that day the daf-yomi cycle of synchronized Talmud study was completed for only the tenth time since this learning program was launched. I had not participated in daf yomi learning, but a close family friend brought me along…
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The brief presidency of John F. Kennedy is sometimes credited with destroying the American hat industry. According to this legend, the glamorous young president’s decision to appear at his inauguration without a hat led millions of American men to instantly throw off their own hats and never look back. The truth is more complex. Kennedy…
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If you had received a private message from God that would determine the future of your family and the fate of nations, would you share that news? If you were sent on a mission by God which would be a focal point for the destiny of your family, whom would you tell? If God had…
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Sometimes a story can be so familiar that we don’t realize that we don’t truly know it at all. After many years of childless marriage, Avraham fathers a child, Yishmael. Yishmael was the answer to Avraham’s prayers. Literally. His name means “God will hear.” But then, some years later, Avraham and Sarah have a child…
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Bette Davis famously said “old age ain’t no place for sissies.” This is a quote that launched a thousand novelty t-shirts and coffee mugs and tote bags. If I were designing one of those inspirational coffee mugs I would add on the words “and adulthood is no place for cowards.” There is a long intellectual…
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The first and last time I tried to recite Tashlikh prayers in Israel was unlike anything I had ever seen before. When I was 18, I left home and traveled to Israel to study in a yeshiva for the first time. Instead of Rosh Hashannah in New York where Tashlikh is recited on the shores…
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There is a prayer that is printed in your machzorim called Tefilah Zakah that some people recite before Yom Kippur begins. The culmination of the prayer is a poignant recognition that even the power of Yom Kippur itself cannot effect atonement for sins between people. We must ask forgiveness of those whom we have hurt…
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One Shabbat morning in the summer of 1870, Duber Ginsberg, an immigrant from Mariampol Lithuania walked into his erstwhile shul while wearing a straw hat whereupon he was promptly thrown out for his impudence and irreverence. Not one to suffer indignity without a response, Duber Ginsberg promptly founded his own shul, soon to be called…
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I have an annual change in diet between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The asseret yamei teshuvah, the ten days of repentance, for me, are ten days to wean myself off caffeine before Yom Kippur. The Shulchan Arukh also recommends that we change our diets next week: :אף מי שאינו נזהר מפת של עכו”ם בעשר’…
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Today is the 9th of Av. Because it is Shabbat, the fast day is postponed to tomorrow and we are left with an ominous date on the calendar and a bit more time to prepare for the darkest and saddest and most somber day of the Jewish calendar. Why do we fast? We fast because…
- Parasha
- Acharei Mot
- Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
- Baha'alotcha
- Balak
- Bamidbar
- Behar
- Behar-Behukotai
- Behukotai
- Bereishit
- Beshalach
- Bo
- Chayei Sara
- Devarim
- Eikev
- Emor
- Ha'Azinu
- Hol HaMoed Sukkot
- Hukkat
- Hukkat-Balak
- Kedoshim
- Ki Teitzei
- Ki Tissa
- Kol Nidre
- Korach
- Lekh Lekha
- Ma'asei
- Matot
- Matot Ma'asei
- Miketz
- Mishpatim
- Naso
- Nitzavim
- Nitzavim-Vayeilech
- Noach
- Pekudei
- Pinchas
- Re'eh
- Rosh Hashanah
- Shavuot
- Shekalim
- Shemot
- Shimini Atzeret
- Shlach
- Shmini
- Shoftim
- Tazria
- Tazria Metzora
- Terumah
- Tetzaveh
- Toldot
- Tzav
- Va'Etchanan
- Vaera
- Vayakhel
- Vayakhel-Pekudei
- VaYechi
- Vayeilech
- Vayera
- VaYeshev
- VaYetzei
- VaYigash
- Vayikra
- VaYishlach
- Yitro
- Yom Ha'atzmaut
- Yom Kippur
- Passover
- Shavuot
- Year
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 