ב"ה
Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah
By the Numbers
Your Questions
Why Circle 7 (or 3) Times on Simchat Torah?
The earliest known source for specifically going around seven times is Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the Arizal (1534-1572). But he provides no source.
The earliest known source for specifically going around seven times is Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the Arizal (1534-1572). But he provides no source.
A New Beginning
All my life, I was made to feel different, and if I didn’t play by the rules then I wasn’t a “good,” serious Jew. Is that how I want my son and daughter to feel? Do I have what it takes to connect?
All my life, I was made to feel different, and if I didn’t play by the rules then I wasn’t a “good,” serious Jew. Is that how I want my son and daughter to feel? Do I have what it takes to connect?
How Simchat Torah in Tokyo Touched My Faith
The table was crowded with people I wouldn’t expect to see at a Chassidic gathering.
The table was crowded with people I wouldn’t expect to see at a Chassidic gathering.
Parshah
Moses’ Blessing and Jacob’s Blessing
Parshat V’zot HaBerachah has two focuses: the blessing that Moses bestows on Israel before his death and the account of his death.
Parshat V’zot HaBerachah has two focuses: the blessing that Moses bestows on Israel before his death and the account of his death.
Video
Why the Rebbe Snuck Over the Wartime Border
Rabbi Menachem Teichtel was a refugee student in Vichy France during the war. He recounts just how far the Rebbe was willing to go to uphold a Jewish custom during wartime (circa 1940).
Rabbi Menachem Teichtel was a refugee student in Vichy France during the war. He recounts just how far the Rebbe was willing to go to uphold a Jewish custom during wartime (circa 1940).
Lifestyle
Stuffed Cabbage
Meat and rice, rolled up in cabbage and cooked in a decadent sauce - a Simchat Torah classic. With step-by-step photo instructions.
Meat and rice, rolled up in cabbage and cooked in a decadent sauce - a Simchat Torah classic. With step-by-step photo instructions.
Where the baal teshuvah (penitant) stands, even the perfectly righteous cannot stand in that place
— Talmud, Berachot 34b
Print Magazine
The Talmud (Ta'anit 23b) mentions that a woman's charity is greater than a man's. She gives the starving beggar a loaf of bread, while he only provides the means to attain it.
Read that in its inner sense and you will see that it is forever:
A man’s way is to serve your impoverished soul ideas—perhaps you will be wise e...
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