Acharei Mot
Jewish Mother’s Day?
Dear Friend,
Mother’s Day is coming! Schoolchildren throughout the United States are designing greeting cards, retailers are advertising gifts, and restaurants are tallying up brunch reservations.
Interestingly, the second Sunday of May is also Rosh Chodesh—the day when the new crescent moon begins to appear in the sky. The connections between the moon and motherhood are many. Both follow a monthly cycle, both have their ups and downs, and both provide a soft and tender light that brightens up the darkest of nights.
In fact, did you know that Rosh Chodesh is often viewed as a mini-holiday just for women? So when you gather with family and friends to celebrate a special woman in your life, come prepared with some special texts or activities, and make it into a Rosh Chodesh celebration.
Happy Rosh Chodesh!
The Chabad.org Editorial Team
P.S.: How do you celebrate Rosh Chodesh? Please leave a comment and let us know.
Why can we say that biblical tragedies were punishments, yet contemporary ones are “the mysterious way of G-d”? Have today’s rabbis changed their perception of G-d to fit what’s politically correct?
Why do we make such a big deal about this tragedy in particular?
Why do we count up to Shavuot during the Omer instead of counting down? Isn’t it a countdown from Passover to Shavuot?
Is there anything I can do to turn things around at this late date, or is it just too late?
Once I was hooked on raw food, the awful restrictions seemed like a privileged progress towards a higher plane of sensitivity and consciousness—precisely the Jewish view of G-d’s restrictions.
How does one simultaneously dwell in two contradictory worlds—the world of the spirit and the world of the flesh? Sprinkling every area of life with salt is the solution.
A condensation of the weekly Torah portion alongside select commentaries culled from the Midrash, Talmud, Chassidic masters, and the broad corpus of Jewish scholarship.
For thousands of years people have looked at the zodiac for direction. But while these signs have power, the constellations are controlled by G-d, who can decide to bypass their predictions.
We are inclined to believe that all intellectual and artistic endeavors are inherently positive. There are those who would argue that untrammeled intellectual and artistic expression is itself a fundamental good . . .
We seek specialness. Everything else just is, and as such is unworthy of our energy or attention. But is that how we really are? Or is there another, perhaps deeper, self that thrives on routine and regularity?
I once brought a friend over for a Shabbat meal at Bubby’s house. Had I realized my friend was a picky eater, I might have chosen to bring along a different guest, or at least warn my friend of my Bubby’s background. But I realized my mistake too late.
When the Russian army approached Auschwitz in the beginning of 1945, the Nazis evacuated the death camp. More than 15,000 are estimated to have died on this march . . .
Here's how to make the most delicious challah loaves for Shabbat. This is the recipe you will come back to again and again!
Jump-started by a group of rabbinical students dispatched to Melbourne by the Rebbe 50 years ago, a small post-high-school yeshivah program has grown to educate the majority of rabbis in Australia today.
Friendship Circle partners with manufacturers and donors to give away a record number of bicycles.
Newly elected official meets with rabbi who arrived there last year.
The words and the stories of Torah are but its clothing; the guidance within them is its body.
And as with a body, within that guidance breathes a soul that gives life to whoever follows it.
And within that soul breathes a deeper, transcendental soul, the soul of the soul: G‑d Himself within His Torah.
Grasp the clot...
