Category Archives: Holidays

A Review of Chanukah Torah 2020

Posted on December 28, 2020 by rebleib1

I am privileged to share some Torah that I developed over the course of Chanukah 2020 with the help of my students, family members, and friends. As always, I enjoy hearing from readers in the comments if you have any … Continue reading →

Posted in Chanukah, Classroom Experiences, Halacha, Holidays, Talmud / Daf Yomi, Tefillah | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Sukkah, Beit Hamikdash, and Eternal Love

Posted on September 28, 2018 by rebleib1

I had the opportunity the other day to have my middle school students over in my sukkah, and I shared the D’var Torah below. I am sharing it now for any larger benefit it may serve. There is a curious … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Succot, Tefillah | Leave a comment

Musings On the Beracha of Leishev BaSukkah

Posted on September 28, 2018 by rebleib1

I was fortunate to be able to learn about the beracha of “Leishev BaSukkah” with a group at my Shul over Yom Tov. Below are some of the salient points, with references to the sources, which are linked to here. … Continue reading →

Posted in Halacha, Holidays, Succot | Leave a comment

The Disappearance and Reappearance of Pesach in Tanach

Posted on April 23, 2017 by rebleib1

I was privileged to give a shiur in my shul the last afternoon of Pesach on “The Appearance and Disappearance of Pesach in Tanach,” focusing on whether Pesach was celebrated in the midbar and on the disappearance and reappearance of … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Jewish History, Nach, Parshat Hashavua, Pesach | Leave a comment

Frum or Krum: Using the Shamash on Chanukah

Posted on December 22, 2016 by rebleib1

The time has come once again for our should-be-award-winning exploration into mores and vicissitudes in the Jewish world and how they stack up to the light of objective research (spoiler: usually, not well). Today’s question: Does the presence of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chanukah, Frum ... Or Krum??, Halacha, Holidays | Leave a comment

The Millennia-Old Problem of Yom Ha’atzmaut in America

Posted on April 23, 2015 by rebleib1

I asked a friend tonight if he could identify the most recent time in Jewish history that every single Jew was in the Land of Israel at the same time. He noticed that it wasn’t the time of Yehoshua, because … Continue reading →

Posted in Communal Matters, Yom Ha'atzmaut | Leave a comment

Does a Spoonful of Bitter Make the Liberty Go Down? Questioning the Seder of the Seder

Posted on April 8, 2015 by rebleib1

In the pantheon of great ideas, coining the term “seder” for the seder was probably right in the middle. On the one hand, there is clearly an intrinsic importance to the order (seder) itself, as shown by our naming the … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Pesach | Leave a comment

Pharaoh’s Man Problem and the Birth of Jewish Exceptionalism

Posted on April 5, 2015 by rebleib1

Did Pharaoh have a problem with men? Or did he have a larger agenda in ordering the boys to be killed? Exploring two parallel stories – the first near the beginning of Parshat Lech Lecha, the second spanning the end … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Parshat Hashavua, Pesach | Leave a comment

Three Weeks, Two Musings, One Shiur

Posted on July 13, 2014 by rebleib1

Yesterday I was privileged to deliver a Shiur on the Three Weeks period, which begins this Tuesday. Click here for the Mareh Mekomot. To these I will append the following philosophical insight which I also shared yesterday, based on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Halacha, Three Weeks and Tisha B'Av | Leave a comment

Frum … or Krum?? – Hiding Bread Before Bedikat Chametz

Posted on April 6, 2014 by rebleib1

And now, once again, it is time for our all-too-infrequent consideration of trends and whispers in the Jewish community as seen through the rarified light of actual Halachic analysis. Is it Frum, or is it Krum? As always, there can … Continue reading →

Posted in Communal Matters, Frum ... Or Krum??, Pesach | 2 Comments