B"H
Wednesday, Tishrei 5, 5784 / September 20, 2023
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins Sunday night.It is the only fast day mentioned in the Torah. All other fast days in the Hebrew calendar are Rabbinical requirements.
All other fast days are to commemorate a tragic event which happened throughout history to our people. However, Yom Kippur, while being a holiday and a happy day, is also a fast day. In fact, on other holidays one is prohibited from fasting, while Yom Kippur is an exception, when we are required to fast.
On Yom Kippur the special YIZKOR prayer is recited. YIZKOR is said four times during the year:On Passover, Shavuot, Shmini Atzeret and on YOM KIPPUR.
Yizkormeans to REMEMBER. In this special prayer we remember our loved ones who passed away and whose souls are bound up in the bond of eternal life in Heaven. Yizkor connects us with our loved ones who have passed on. By remembering them, they too remember us at this time of the year.
Our sages tell us that it’s not enough just to remember them in our minds and with our words. We have to remember them with good deeds. The purpose of the Yizkor prayer is to remember them through the performance of the mitzvah of Tzedakah-charity, which we donate in their memory. In the Yizkor prayer we mention their names and also specifythat charity was given, or will be given, in their memory.
Our parents, while they were alive, cared for us unconditionally. There was nothing too difficult for them to do for us. But now that they are not here physically, it is we who can do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Mitzvot can only be performed in this world. Every mitzvah and good deed we do in their honor brings merit to their souls. This is especially true when we give charity in their memory and in their honor. It brings them merit and reward in the World-to-Come.
Yizkor is our way of saying to our parents who are in heaven, “I love you. I miss you. I remember you.” It is our way of expressing our connection to them by donating to charity in their memory. Our parents and loved ones in heaven feel our love and connection. They in turn, intercede on our behalf on high. They pray for us and shower us with blessings.
The Yizkor prayer is our 3,000-year gold-chain link with our past generations. It gets longer and longer as time passes, but also gets stronger and stronger with time. Our loved ones who are deceased did their part, now it’s up to us to do ours.
Q. In each of the Yom Kippur prayers, the "Vidui - confession" is said. The confession is said in the plural, "We have sinned...We have transgressed..." etc. Why is it recited in the plural, not in the singular, “I have sinned,” etc.?
A. Our rabbis explain that as Jews we are not only responsible for our own deeds, but for our fellow Jew as well. If another Jew transgresses, we are all partly responsible. Thus, we confess and ask forgiveness not only for our sins, but also for others who sinned.
GMAR CHATIMA TOVA – A VERY GOOD, SWEET, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR.
B"H
Friday, Tishrei 7, 5784 / September 22, 2023
This Shabbat we read from the Torah Parshat Ha’azinu. Ha’azinu is one Parsha before the last in the Torah. The last Parsha, V’Zot Habracha, is always read on Simchat Torah.
This Shabbat, which is between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, is called Shabbat Teshuva – Shabbat of repentance, because it falls during the ten days of Tesuvah-repentance.
Yom Kippur is the only fast mentioned in the Torah. All other fasts during the year are Rabbinical requirements. Also, all other fasts are to commemorate a negative event which happened throughout Jewish history, Yom Kippur, when our sins are forgiven, makes it a happy and joyous day.
Q.What happened on this day that G-d designated as a day of forgiveness for all generations?
A. Forty days after the Giving of The Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jewish people sinned by making and worshipping the Golden Calf. When Moshe came down the mountain and saw this, he broke The Tablets. Moshe went back up the mountain and prayed for the next 40 days for forgiveness for his people. G-d then told him to bring up another set of Tablets and He will again engrave the Ten Commandments in them. It was on Yom Kippur that G-d gave Moshe the Second Tablets and with this G-d forgave the people for their grave sin. As a result, G-d proclaimed the day of Yom Kippur – Day of Forgiveness for all future generations.
Q. If Yom Kippur is a happy holiday, why do we fast on Yom Kippur?
A. There are a number of reasons: 1) Being the Day of forgiveness, it is fitting for us to spend the time in spiritual matters. We should derive pleasure from prayers and not from physical appetites.
2) The Torah tells us that at the time of the Giving of the Torah, the people of Israel, "Beheld G-d while they were eating and drinking" (Exodus 24:11 - See Rashi). This excessive feasting, according to our rabbis, showed a lack of respect and eventually led to worshipping the Golden Calf and resulted in the breaking of the Tablets. Yom Kippur was the day in which G-d forgave Israel for the sin of the Golden Calf and also the day when Moshe returned with the Second Tablets. Since their excessive eating and drinking was a factor in the breaking of the First Tablets, we correct this sin by avoiding food and drink on Yom Kippur, the day when Moshe descended with the Second Tablets.
3) Fasting humbles a person. Thus, on Yom Kippur, when we must perform teshuva-repentance with all our heart, we refrain from eating or drinking.
4) On Yom Kippur, when we are forgiven for our sins, we are considered pure like angels. We express this by acting like angels who don't eat or drink.
SHABBAT SHALOM. GMAR CHATIMA TOVA – A VERY GOOD, SWEET, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR TO YOU & YOUR LOVED ONES.
HAVE AN EASY FAST.
Montreal candle lighting time: 6:34 / Shabbat ends: 7:34 -
B"H
Wednesday, Tishrei 12, 5784 / September 27, 2023
Friday night begins the joyous festival of Sukkot, which is called "Z'man Simchateinu" -"Season of our Rejoicing."
There are two mitzvot associated with the holiday of Sukkot: 1) We eat our meals in the sukkah. Many even sleep in the sukkah.
2) We recite the blessing and shake the Lulav and Etrog every day of the seven days of Sukkot, except Shabbat. Thus, this year, being that the first day of Sukkot is on Shabbat, we do not perform this mitzvah on the first day of Sukkot.
In Leviticus (23: 33-44) the Torah tells us, "On the 15th day of the seventh month [Tishrei], when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall observe the feast of the L-rd seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest and on the eighth day shall be a rest. And you shall take to you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees (Etrog), branches of palm trees (Lulav), and branches of thick trees (Hadasim) and willows of the brook (Aravot), and you shall rejoice before the L-rd your G-d seven days... In Sukkot you shall dwell seven days... So that your generations may know that in booths I made the children of Israel dwell, when I brought them out from the land of Egypt."
After the seven days of Sukkot, on the eighth day is Shmini Atzeret and on the ninth day is Simchat Torah. In Israel, where the holiday is one day less, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are both celebrated on the eighth day.
Q. The three holidays of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot are all festive and joyous holidays. Why is only Sukkot called, Z'man Simchateinu - Season of our rejoicing?
A. Although the Torah commands us to be joyful on Pesach and Shavuot, Sukkot is the only holiday that the Torah mentions three times to rejoice. This is why Sukkot is singled out as, "Z'man Simchateinu" - "Season of our Rejoicing."
Sukkot comes after Yom Kippur when we are all forgiven for our sins, thus, on Sukkot, ALL Jews are the same, this is a cause for our special rejoicing on Sukkot.
One of the lessons of Sukkot is the importance of unity. The Torah says about Sukkot, "You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your man servant and your maid servant and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow that are within your gates..."
Here the Torah emphasizes unity - calling for everyone to rejoice together- for the wealthy to take care and include in their feast the less fortunate. The Torah teaches us that true rejoicing, even for the wealthy, can only be attained when we are all united and include in our G-d given fortunes also the less fortunate.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
B"H
Thursday, Tishrei 13, 5784 / September 28, 2023
On Sukkot, which begins this Friday night, we perform the mitzvah of Sukkah and the mitzvah of the Four Kinds. The mitzvah of the Four Kinds is performed only during the day, on the six weekdays, not on Shabbat.
The mitzvah of eating in the Sukkah applies during the day and night each of the Sukkot days, also on Shabbat.
The mitzvah of the Four Kinds performed on Sukkot represents the idea of unity, which we mentioned yesterday. Here is how:
The Talmud tells us that the Etrog (citrus), contrary to other fruits, can grow on its tree from year to year, "uniting" the four seasons and deriving nourishment from all of them. The sign of a kosher Lulav (palm branch) is that its leaves are "together". If the leaves are spread apart from each other, the Lulav is not kosher. The leaves on the Hadasim (myrtle branches) grow three "together" from the same source on the Hadas branch. Finally, the Aravot (willow branches) are described in the Talmud as "growing together in groups." This is the special lesson of the Sukkot holiday and its mitzvot, the idea that we are ALL united and unity is our strength.
This lesson is very important at this time, after Yom Kippur, as we enter the New Year.
Q. Why do we hold the Lulav in the right hand and the Etrog in the left?
A. Because the Lulav comes together with the Hadasim and Arovot, thus it has three of the four species of this mitzvah. As a result, we hold them in the right hand, which is usually the stronger and considered the more special hand. However, the Etrog, is held alone in the left hand.
Another reason: The Blessing for this mitzvah is: “Blessed are you G-d, our God, king of the universe, Who has sanctified us through His commandments and has commanded us on the mitzvah of Lulav.” Because the blessing mentions the Lulav, we hold the Lulav in the right hand.
Q. The holiday of Pesach (Passover) commemorates the miracle of the Exodus.The Shavuot holiday recalls the miracle of the Giving of the Torah. What miracle does the holiday of Sukkot commemorate?
A. One of the great miracles which G-d performed for the Jewish people during their forty years in the desert, was surrounding them with His Clouds of Glory. They protected them from the heat and the elements which would have made their stay in the desert unbearable. The clouds also protected them from enemies who wanted to harm them. Also, their clothes, during the forty years, were cleaned through these clouds. The clouds surrounded them and protected them. It is this miracle we celebrate on Sukkot. It is also a reminder today that G-d looks after our needs and protects us.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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