News

This week, parents in the Tri-State Area gleefully celebrated the return of their children to school. No doubt they are thrilled that their children will be learning Torah and broadening the horizons of their minds again. But on a more practical level, after a couple of weeks of “Ma, I’m soooooo bored,” mothers were more than willing to wake up early to help send their children off to school. Now, they have a few weeks’ reprieve before the Chol HaMoed morning pestering begins: “Ma, where are we goooooooing today?”

Like my children, all my nephews and nieces are rather precocious. It must be something in the genes.

Luck doesn’t seem to be a very Jewish concept. We don’t believe in coincidences. The concept of hashgachah pratis dictates that everything that occurs to us is part of a divine plan, tailored for us.

Every wedding is a special and joyous occasion. In fact, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky (Emes L’Yaakov) notes that every Jewish wedding is a national celebration. He proves it from the fact that if a mourner comes to shul, the mourner himself doesn’t recite Tachanun, but the rest of the congregation does. However, when a chasan davens in shul during the week after his wedding, the entire congregation omits Tachanun. Apparently, everyone in the shul has a share in the chasan’s celebration. The Jewish people thrive upon the building of Jewish homes.

“The task of a rabbi is to provide perspective and vision, to be the great communicator, to take his congregants and connect them to Sinai and that they feel proud to be Jews.” – Rabbi Berel Wein

One of the modern wonders of Israel is its transportation system. Who would believe that in a Jewish state that has no shortage of bureaucracy, transportation would be on time, well-maintained, and dependable? With an app like Moovit, you can know when your bus or train will arrive down to the minute.