ב"ה
Chol Hamoed/Simchat Torah
Essays
Is Rain on Sukkot a Bad Omen?
The Mishnah analogizes rain on Sukkot to a servant who comes to pour wine for his master, and the master pours a jug of water in his face. Here is what this means for those of us who experience rain almost every Sukkot
The Mishnah analogizes rain on Sukkot to a servant who comes to pour wine for his master, and the master pours a jug of water in his face. Here is what this means for those of us who experience rain almost every Sukkot
Simchat Torah All Year Round
Why should our Jewishness be associated with solemnity, judgment and a growling stomach? Why not with who we really are--the people that dance with a book.
Why should our Jewishness be associated with solemnity, judgment and a growling stomach? Why not with who we really are--the people that dance with a book.
By the Numbers
15 Simchat Torah Facts Every Jew Should Know
Simchat Torah (“The Joy of the Torah”) is the day when we finish the annual Torah-reading cycle and begin anew. Learn 15 facts that you may not have known!
Simchat Torah (“The Joy of the Torah”) is the day when we finish the annual Torah-reading cycle and begin anew. Learn 15 facts that you may not have known!
Voices
The Doctors Said We Could Not Have a Child
Read a firsthand account of how an encounter with the Rebbe on Chol Hamoed Sukkot changed a family forever.
Read a firsthand account of how an encounter with the Rebbe on Chol Hamoed Sukkot changed a family forever.
I Never Thought I’d Have My Own Sukkah
That diffident child peering through the fence at her neighbors never dreamed that when she grew up, she would one day have the joy of sitting in her own sukkah year after year.
That diffident child peering through the fence at her neighbors never dreamed that when she grew up, she would one day have the joy of sitting in her own sukkah year after year.
The Song of Redemption
How a powerful poem, set to music in Shanghai, gained new life and meaning to Jews around the world.
How a powerful poem, set to music in Shanghai, gained new life and meaning to Jews around the world.
Parshah
High But Not Too High
You must always remain with your feet tethered to the ground, no matter how much you want to escape.
You must always remain with your feet tethered to the ground, no matter how much you want to escape.
How were the Ten Commandments given? Five on one tablet and five on a second tablet. This means that "Do not murder" corresponds to "I am G-d your G-d." What is this analogous to? To a king of flesh and blood who entered a country and put up portraits of himself, and made statues of himself, and minted coins with his image. After a while, the people of the country overturned his portraits, broke his statues and invalidated his coins, thereby reducing the image of the king. So, too, one who sheds blood reduces the image of the King, as it is written (Genesis 9:6): "One who spills a man's blood... for in the image of G-d He made man."
— Midrash Mechilta
Print Magazine
In the month of Elul, the month before Rosh Hashanah, a signal goes out to every Jewish soul that it is time to return to the palace that is home.
It is a signal both subtle and loud.
Subtle, because it does not awaken even those who are closest—every soul must awaken itself. Loud, because it reaches those who have been...
New on Chabad.org
