PARSHAS BO 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Bo 3 Shevat 5775/ January 23, 2015 On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American male, was shot to death after an altercation with Darren Wilson, a 28-year-old white male Ferguson police officer. Brown was a suspect in a robbery committed minutes before the shooting. On […]
PARSHAS VAERA 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vaera 25 Teves 5775/ January 16, 2015 Mevorchim Chodesh Shevat I never understood why I did it, but I always did. Whenever I needed to go shopping for ‘just a few things’, either during an early weekday morning or on Friday afternoon, I would run into the […]
PARSHAS SHEMOS 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Shemos 18 Teves 5775/ January 9, 2015 Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt’l related that he understood the depth of the galus in America when he overheard two boys discussing the Kohain Gadol. One boy related to the other all he had learned about the special clothes the Kohain […]
PARSHAS VAYECHI 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayechi 11 Teves 5775/January 2, 2015 The new upscale school of Mount Wealthmore had begun its first school year. The students absolutely loved school. There was no homework or tests because that could trigger undue anxiety. Classes could not be longer than twenty minutes because […]
PARSHAS VAYIGASH 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayigash 4 Teves 5775/ December 26, 2014 This week the Monsey community was faced with an epic catastrophe. Here it was, the middle of the Chanukah, and there were no chocolate coins to be found in any of the stores. Evergreen, Rockland Kosher, Hatzlacha, All […]
CHANUKAH/MIKETZ 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Miketz 27 Kislev 5775/ December 19, 2014 Shabbos Chanukah/Mevorchim Chodesh Teves I join the masses The multitudes standing In awed silence Watching his every move To witness the scene – So holy So regal So pure Eyes closed Thoughts transcending So removed Transported to a celestial world […]
PARSHAS VAYESHEV 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayeshev 20 Kislev 5775/ December 12, 2014 On one occasion Rav Lazer Shach zt’l was not feeling well and slept past the early time of Kerias Shema. The following morning he was inconsolable. He related that he felt like one who went to sleep on […]
PARSHAS VAYISHLACH 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayishlach 13 Kislev 5775/ December 5, 2014 What a difference a few degrees makes! Last Wednesday the first snowstorm of the season dumped almost half a foot of snow on Monsey. But while Monsey got hit by young man winter, balmy New York City and […]
PARSHAS VAYETZEI 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Vayetzei 6 Kislev 5775/ November 28, 2014 As I walked home from shul this past Shabbos with my son Shalom, we were reminiscing about our family trip to Eretz Yisroel a year ago. Shalom expressed that he was disappointed with “Eretz Yisroel”. He felt that […]
PARSHAS TOLDOS 5775
“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)” Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Toldos 28 Cheshvan 5775/ November 21, 2014 Shabbos Mevorchim Chodesh Kislev One of the most prized seforim that I have from my zaydes massive collection is a rosh hashana/Yom Kippur machzor printed in Germany in 1840. I always make sure to use the machzor […]