Daily Kavanah – Monday, November 4, 2024
If Fiddler on the Roof granted us perhaps the most well-known prayer for the government, the first one dates back to the prophet Jeremiah in [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Parashat vayera ends with the puzzling tale of the akedah, the binding of Isaac. After God commands him to sacrifice his son, Abraham journeys to [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, November 1, 2024
I remember, decades ago, when I was learning how to type on an actual typewriter as part of our middle school required [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, October 31, 2024
Scholars have identified 12 Psalms, two of which appear in the Psalms of the Day, as a collection of the Psalms of [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, October 30, 2024
While there is no official “Hump Day” in the weekly Shabbat cycle, Wednesday is—according to Hasidic tradition at least—a bit of a turning [...]
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, October 29, 2024
There is a tradition in many Orthodox communities to hold weddings on Tuesdays, the third day of the Jewish week. In the [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, October 28, 2024
According to the Mishnah, our 3rd century compendium that records much of the history of the Temple Service, the Levites—part of the [...]
Daily Kavanah – Friday, October 25, 2024
It’s right there in the Torah. It’s a mitzvah to celebrate at this time. Deuteronomy chapter 16 teaches that on Sukkot, “ וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְּחַגֶּךָ [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, October 24, 2024
Today is Sh’mini Atzeret.Although Sukkot is only celebrated for seven days, the Book of Leviticus ordains an eighth day as a day of [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Today is the 7th day of Sukkot. The seventh day of Sukkot is also known as Hoshana Rabbah, the Great Prayer for Deliverance, [...]