Eliezer Zalmanov

Dear Reader, We join with the Jewish community all over the world in mourning the tragic loss of seven precious souls on Shabbat morning in Brooklyn and pray for the recovery of the survivors. May the Omnipresent console the Sassoon family among the mourn...

Dear Friend, We all know the proverbial “once-a-year-Jews” who sit through several hours of prayers and a sermon or two every year during the High Holidays simply because “that’s what Jews do.” Now, I’m not suggesting that they stop coming. Heaven forbid....

Dear Friend, For the last several weeks, our hearts and minds have been on Israel. We’re glued to news reports as we are heartened by the victories of the IDF and mourn the loss of lives. We’ve been encouraged to pray and do mitzvahs in the honor of the b...

Dear Friend, I was in the car the other day listening to a report of a standoff between the police and a person who had barricaded himself in a house with a cache of guns. The incident ended when the fellow shot and injured himself, thankfully before he w...

After services and after lunch in the sukkah, our entire family went on a lulav walk.

On a regular school day, we spend close to three hours in the car shuttling the three older kids to and from school.

As I understand it, we are not allowed to work on Shabbat. So how is it that the cantor and the rabbi can be paid for their Shabbat duties? Is it not considered work?

Dear Rabbi, I am curious about the order that the tefillin are put on and taken off. The box for the arm is fastened first, and the box for the head is removed first. It would seem to me that the tefillin should be placed on the head first. Also, why are ...

I’ve been asked how it is possible that a young person like me, who was raised in a Jewish religious environment, can continue with that lifestyle while living in a mostly secular community...

I’ve been reading through the prayer “v’al hanisim” – “about the miracles” which we recite daily during Hanukkah. Why is there no mention of the miracle of the oil which burned for eight days? Isn’t that the main Hanukkah miracle?