Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family, 

Let’s try to picture what the last moments of life were like for the patriarch for whom our people and nation are named. Israel alighted up to his bed from which he would not descend alive and blessed his children with the predictions that would determine their futures. He knew the exile...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Everyone knows that we derive from this week’s Parsha that given a choice between receiving a Divine visit and hospitality, we should choose the latter. Avraham puts God on hold in order to serve three strangers, and our sages judged this apparent chutzpah favorably. The Maharsha (Shabbos 127A)...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Moadim L’simcha!

There is a Simchas Torah custom of holding up the Sefer backwards for Hagbah, quite a difficult task, since the entire scroll is all to one side. The reason for this custom is...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Moadim L’Simcha!

As is so often the case, the venomous hatred of those who despise Israel is stronger than their support for the people they purport to favor. This was the case when these haters...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

The 1st Temple was completed just before Yom Kippur and Tanach relates that King Solomon celebrated this achievement for two weeks (Melachim Aleph 8:65). Divrei Hayamim Bet (7:10) relates that these two weeks of celebration  ended on the 23rd of  Tishre. Our sages understood this to mean that the Temple celebrations overrode the...Read more...

Dear Friends of OZ

This is my last Rosh Hashana message as president. Thank G-d, right?

It is very difficult to be president - it doesn't fit well with my personality. (I'll never forgive Mendy Gross for encouraging me to do it!). I don't like asking anyone for money; like Ben Shapiro, I believe that "facts don't care about your feelings," so I tend to ignore emotional factors when engaging in any...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Following on yesterday's comments, today, the 26th of Elul, is the second day of creation according to Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer. On this day, in addition to what is written in the Torah, Chazal say that Gehenom was created on the second day as well. That is because the second day twice refers to separations. The connection to Gehenom is that unresolved dispute and division is a clear path to the lowest...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Today, the 24th of Elul, is the 78th yahrzeit of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan HaKohen z'l, also known as the Chofetz Chaim. A long obituary that appeared in the New York Times put his age at 106. He received the name Chofetz Chaim because of his incessant battles against slander, gossip and...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

I taught live in person students at YU today for the first time in almost a year and a half. This semester, I’m also teaching at Stern College, and both schools are maintaining high levels of safety standards. They are both allowing vaccinated students to maintain close to normal pre-Covid...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Today, the 8th of Elul, is the Yahrzeit of Rivka Goli, who is remembered by her friends as a profoundly proud Jew and a prolific ba’alas chesed.

Rivka lived a full and extraordinary life. She was born in the Western African nation, Ivory Coast, and embraced the religion of her choice with vigorous fervor. She spoke many languages and traveled the world as a peacekeeper for the United Nations. In this...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

The Torah in this week’s Parsha commands us to tithe whatever our land produces. The double expression of “Aser T’aser” (Devarim 14:22), is understood by some commentaries to include the command to tithe our income as well. Rav Moshe Feinstein even included the standard of tithing our...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

By now in Sefer Devarim it is becoming clear that the book’s main agenda is to prepare the nation of Israel for crossing the Yarden into the Promised Land. The commandments that are repeated, and the new commandments all point in the direction of a new generation starting a new chapter of...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

I usually try to stay out of politics with these words, but I am reacting measure for measure. Ice cream is also normally removed from politics, but when Israel is concerned, few things are normal. Ben and Jerry’s ice cream this week declared an announcement which reeks of overt anti-Semitism....Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Last week I pointed to the crucial Biblical verse that speaks of consistency and constancy, and I have seen many examples of such standards in my life. My father, z”l worked at the same hospital for 54 years. I have been going to school as a student or teacher on 185th or 186th St. off of...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Another glorious day is before us.

42 years ago this day, the Rebbitzen and I went on our first date. I won her a small stuffed animal at an amusement park, and every day since I do the things that...Read more...