Today, Tuesday of  ParshatBeshalach, the Torah portion Beshalach is a special day. Chazal our Sages tell us that it is extremely prudent to utilize this day to pray for parnassah, livelihood. It is a widespread and accepted custom to recite “ParshatHamonn,” the portion in the Torah that describes the way Hashem  provided the manna for the Jewish people in the desert. This can be found […]

End of (Our) Days   Yaakov had great foresight and was always looking ahead to the future.  In fact he even had a glimpse into the “End of Days,” the times of Mashiach and wished to share what he knew with his children. The beginning of the Parsha is completely סתומה, closed.  The Midrash comments that this is […]

Please spread the word about my new class series starting next week.  Click here for more information: Unlocking the Gates of Prayer

In the Parsha of Vayigash, in a moment we have been greatly anticipating, Yosef reveals his identity to his brothers.  “I am Joseph, is my father still alive?”  His brothers could hardly answer him, the Torah tells us, because they were so taken aback to realize this was Yosef their brother. The Midrash, however, supplies […]

http://www.lookstein.org/articles/veten_tal.htm We begin requesting rain in the Diaspora on the 60th day of the fall season, as approximated by Shmuel in the Talmud (Taanit 10a, Eiruvin 56a). This year we began inserting V’ten Tal U’matar l’vracha in our Amida the night of Tuesday, December 4th. For more information about this calculation, follow the link above., […]

Download Chanuka To-Go 5773 from Yeshiva University – http://www.yutorah.org/togo/Chanuka. This issue of Torah for Chanuka includes the following articles: Mrs. Suzy Schwartz (Assistant Dean, YU’s Center for the Jewish Future) – “Introduction: The Essence of Miracles” Rabbi Aaron Cohen (Faculty, Stern College for Women) – “There’s No Place Like Home: Defining the Obligation of Lighting Chanukah […]

Updated Post with Message from the OU Hurricane Sandy has left much damage and destruction in its wake. We will be all be impacted by its after effect to one degree or another.  In the meantime, we should all focus our attention to what we can do to help the millions who still don’t have […]

How to Daven as a Ba’al Tefilah” by Rabbi Haskel Lookstein. www.ramaz.org/nusach This is a great resource for anyone interested in leading services or following along with the traditional Nusach for all the weekly, Shabbat, and Yom Tov services.  It was just recently made available free for public use.