Jewish Holidays

The sages of the Mishnah posed the following question: Which is greater, study or practice? “Rabbi Tarphon answered, saying, 'Practice is greater'; Rabbi Akiva answered, saying: 'Study is greater..' Rabbi Eliyahu Brin provides insight.

The Mishnah teaches us that the tablets were broken on the 17th of Tamuz as a result of the building of the Golden Calf. Rav Kook explains that if we understand the essence of idolatry we can find a way to mend the broken tablets.

The Three Weeks between the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av are a time of sadness and danger. Rav Kook shows that they are also a time during which we can rebuild the Temple if we learn the secret of Causeless Love.

Did Jews fast over the destruction of the First Temple when the Second Temple stood? Must pregnant and nursing women abstain from eating and drinking on minor fasts? Rabbi Eliezer Melamed addresses these and other important questions.

Fast days are occasion for introspection and repentance. After all, we are not fasting over the distant, unrelated past; we are fasting in response to our own present situation. How is it that instead of mourning we remain complacent and indifferent?

Before the Giving of the Torah man exerted himself in an attempt to come close to God, yet, despite all of his efforts, he remained far removed; from the Giving of the Torah onward, the road is open to reaching God.

National liberation, in its initial stages, awakens great excitement. After this, though, one begins to sense that freedom is not the solution to all problems. Only with the receiving of the Torah do the firstfruit Festivals draw to a close.