Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

The 26th of Nissan has been canonized onto the Jewish calendar as the half-way point between the beginning of the Warsaw ghetto uprising and Yom Ha’atzmaut. The original name of this day was Yom Hashoah u’Gevurah, commemorating not only the utter devastation and destruction, but also the...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

In the 5 years between 2018-2022, we celebrate Pesach 4 times without a Shabbos Chol Hamoed, which is what happens when Pesach falls either on a Shabbos or a Sunday. That means that one of the most famous Haftarot of the year goes unsaid in shul. The Springtime renewal of nature is reminiscent of our renewal as a people in the wake of the freedom from Egyptian bondage.

That renewal is captured by Yechezkel...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

In the Mishna in Masechet Pesachim and at the end of the Maggid section of the Haggadah, we read that each of us is obligated to consider as if we left Egyptian servitude. The rest of the year, our obligation is to simply remember the redemption from Egypt. This cultivates the belief that God not...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Today’s date, Nissan 10 is very well represented in early Biblical history. It was the day the Israelites began to prepare for their Passover sacrifice (Shemot 12:3). According to tradition, we left Egypt on a Thursday, in which case this...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

This Shabbos we begin the third book of the Torah. While Vayikra contains only about 14% of the verses of the Torah it contains a full 44% of the Mitzvot of the Torah. Our sages refer to this book as Torat Kohanim, the laws of the religious functionaries who minister to the spiritual needs of the people. The Latin name for the book, Leviticus, connects specifically to one tribe, the Levites who would tend to the...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

This morning, we recited Tachanun for the last time until the middle of April. Tachanun is recited after the Amidah and is comprised mainly of Tehillim chapter 6, and it beseeches God to find our service pleasing. Last year, after a full month of Nissan in veritable quarantine form our normal...Read more...

RSVP FOR THE OZ VIRTUAL DINNER WITH MODI: WWW.OZNY.ORG/CELEBRATE

Dear OZ family,

This week’s Parsha contains a verse that has made it into our Shabbos Ma’ariv liturgy and into the afternoon Kiddush, and is the...Read more...

RSVP FOR THE OZ VIRTUAL DINNER WITH MODI: WWW.OZNY.ORG/CELEBRATE

Dear OZ family,

This week’s Torah reading contains the inglorious story of the golden calf, likened by our sages to a bride committing adultery,...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

It was one lunar year ago that the uncertainty of what was in store began to fall upon us. I remember the sinking feeling brought on by the decision to announce that we would suspend services for the unforeseeable future. The idea of life being capsized, and all that is normal being overturned, is very much the theme of Megillat Esther. One moment the Jews are enjoying the largesse of the king of Persia, and the next...Read more...