12
Feb 2018
Chanukah has become a festival in Jewish life although it lacks, in its origin, all the elements of the Yamim Tovim. These eight days were orginially days dedicated to Hallel and Hoda’ah — Praise and Thanksgiving for the miracle of salvation from the Greek hordes. It has but one ceremonial, the mitzvah of kindling the lights. The lesson of Chanukah, however, has served to give to it the aura of a Yom Tov. The meaning of faith, the Almighty’s guardianship of Israel, are driven home in the story of Chanukah. Israel’s feeling......
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12
Feb 2018
An English abridgement of a lecture delivered on Yom Tov, and published in Pirkei Emunah pp.333-334. Translated by Rabbi Israel Schneider. The Sages have compared Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres to one who invites his many friends to a joyous affair. As the party ends, and the guests drift away, the host invites his most beloved friend to a tete a tete, in which only he and his beloved intimately rejoice. [The seven days of Sukkos correspond to the general party, in which all the world’s denizens celebrate. Shemini Atzeres, however, is HaShem’s......
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12
Feb 2018
by Rabbi Rabbi Israel Schneider. Rabbi Schneider studied in Telshe Yeshiva for about 20 years. In that period of time, he was privileged to hear shiurim from Rav Mordechai Gifter, zt”l. He is a researcher at Ofeq Institute under the directorship of Rabbi Avraham Shoshana–an institute which is dedicated to editing and disseminating the lost works of the Rishonim (medieval masters). Rabbi Schneider served as a writer/translator for the Mesorah Heritage Foundation (ArtScroll) for fifteen......
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14
Jan 2018
Comments on the State of the Union Address Given By President Lyndon B. Johnson in January of 1968 By Maran HaGaon HaRav Mordechai Gifter, Zt”L. The President in his last State of the Union message dealt with two salient points. In our pursuit of happiness the nation has achieved prosperity as has never been recorded in history – higher paychecks, humming factories, more and more new homes equipped with more than seventy million TV sets. Yet, the President said, there is restlessness in the land – a puzzling restlessness. It is as if material prosperity......
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