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ב"ה

Sukkot & Simchat Torah 5766 - October 17-26, 2005

Current
A New Doll for Gittel

"Looking to partner with a few good women and men to bring hope, healing and kindness to New Orleans. I flooded the place and need your help to set it to rights again." (Spotted in the "Help Wanted" section of the New Orleans Time Picayune)
Living
Invisible Fences

Are you you smart, stupid, graceful, clumsy, bold, wimpy, articulate, shy? Whatever your answers, they will limit and define you as certainly as if they were a cage made out of concrete and steel
The Case of the Missing Etrog

On the cosmic mitzvah scale there really is no difference if I make a blessing over my lulav-and-etrog set, or if that same set is used by a Jew on the streets of Brooklyn.... mitzvah = mitzvah, right?
What Is Sukkot?

The Sukkah, the Four Kinds, the "Water-Drawing Celebrations," the meaning of unity, the dynamics of joy, the Kabbalah of the willow -- explored via dozens of essays, insights, readings and stories
Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah Stories
A Crown of Slippers... Fire Consumes Fire... People of the Book... Simchat Torah, Vilna, 1945... Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1970...
Parshah
V’Zot HaBerachah in a Nutshell
Moses blesses each of the twelve tribes. He ascends the mountain where he sees the Land of Israel and passes away, and the Torah tells us, “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses…”.
Bereishit in a Nutshell
G‑d creates the world in six days and sanctifies the seventh. The serpent convinces Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and they are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve bear children, and Cain murders Abel.
The etrog has both a taste and an aroma; so, too, do the people of Israel include individuals who have both Torah learning and good deeds.... The date (the fruit of the lulav) has a taste but does not have an aroma; so, too, do the people of Israel include individuals who have Torah but do not have good deeds.... The hadas (myrtle) has an aroma but not a taste; so, too, do the people of Israel include individuals who have good deeds but do not have Torah.... The aravah (willow) has no taste and no aroma; so, too, do the people of Israel include individuals who do not have Torah and do not have good deeds.... Says G-d: "Let them all bond together in one bundle and atone for each other."
— Midrash Rabbah, Vayikra 30:11
Print Magazine

Emunah (eh-moo-na): A knowing, deep in the soul, that there is only one G-d, that He is good, and that He loves you unconditionally.

Simchah (sim-kha): A mighty current of life-energy felt when contemplating emunah.

Bitachon (bi-ta-khon): A surge of invincible confidence that emerges when emunah is challenged by circums...

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