Friday, October 9th 2026 |
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Hillel and Shammai debate how one is to dance before a bridal couple, when it is customary to extol the virtues of the bride (Ketubot 17A-B). Shammai maintains we should truthfully “describe the bride just...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Among the first textbooks I used in studying Hebrew was one titled “B’Yad Ha-Lashon.” The text was replete with vocabulary lists, exercises, and model conversations… and was accompanied by a set of LP records –...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER.
A Succah is kosher – it fulfills the requirements of Jewish Law – even if its walls are unadorned… even if it is devoid of decorations, fruits, gourds, garlands and flowers. Yet the widespread custom...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Like much of Jewish prayer, the confession of sins recited on Yom Kippur is conspicuous for its use of first person plural: Ashamnu, Bagadnu, Gazalnu – “We have sinned, We have trespassed, We have robbed….”...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Shanah Tovah! Wishing you much blessing in 5780!
The sounding of the Shofar – the ram’s horn – is a much anticipated highlight of Rosh Hashanah worship. Explanations of this observance abound:
The Shofar was...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
The fourth of the Ten Commandments not only prescribes the religious duty of rest on the Sabbath, it mandates work on the other six days of the week as an independent, sacred obligation: “Six days...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Perhaps the most dramatic and emotionally evocative aspect of Jewish mourning and funerary traditions is the practice of “Keriyah.” We tear our clothing (some use a black ribbon attached to the clothing) as a sign...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
The first time I examined a volume of Talmud, I was twelve years old. The late Rabbi Harold Bell, then Director of Connecticut Region USY, was spending Shabbat with my home congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts....
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashanah, is a period of personal reconciliation and spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days, the process of repentance, and the inauguration of a productive new year. The name of...
By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER
There are numerous symbolic foods associated with Rosh Hashanah. The most popular of these is honey… into which we typically dip either apples or challah (or eager fingers!). The meaning seems clear. We aspire to...
