Author: David Rutman

Photo Credit: Jewish Press Many mitzvos are considered halachically fulfilled even if we do them thoughtlessly. Not so the mitzvah of sukkah, says the Bach. When sitting in a sukkah, we must know and think about why we’re sitting there. The Torah says, “L’maan yeidu doroseichem ki basukos hoshavti es Bnei Yisrael b’hotzeisi eschem mei’Eretz […]

Photo Credit: Jewish Press I studied under many teachers when I was growing up. Many of them were considered the gedolim of the generation. I remember when I attended Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh and my rosh yeshiva was the tzaddik Rabbi Chayim Yaakov Goldvicht. I recall the teachers I was privileged to have when I attended […]

Photo Credit: David B. Gleason / Wikimedia The Pentagon, 2008 Turkish forces in northern Syria “accidentally” shelled a contingent of US Special Forces, according to an exclusive report published Friday by Newsweek Magazine. The publication was told by an Iraqi Kurdish intelligence official and a senior Pentagon official that the shelling by Turkish forces was […]

Photo Credit: #WeWantNaama on Facebook Naama Issachar On Friday morning, Naama Issachar, 25, an Israeli-American tourist, was convicted of smuggling 9.6 grams of Charas (Indian and Jamaican hashish, made from the resin of the cannabis plant) and sentenced by a Russian court to seven and a half years in prison. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has […]

Photo Credit: Jewish Press Three Hebrew words for gathering are associated with Sukkot: “asifah,” “aggudah,” and “kehillah.” * The holiday is called Chag HaAssif (Exodus 23:16 and 34:22) because, Rashi explains, Sukkot is a person’s last chance to gather (“asifah”) and bring his produce indoors before the rainy season. Advertisement ‘); _avp.push({ tagid: article_top_ad_tagid, alias: […]