Dear Rabbi and Shira
I am so frustrated with the shidduch system . Why are the guy’s moms in charge of who I marry? Every time I am redt to someone, it always has to go through the guy’s mother. The mothers are constantly saying no. Either I’m not frum enough, even though the guy is modern but mom still wants a certain type of girl, I’m not pretty enough even though the guy is not great looking, or I’m no …
The Sins of the Fathers
אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי זֵירָא לְרַבִּי יַעֲקֹב (בְּרֵיהּ) דְּבַת יַעֲקֹב
Rashi:
בריה דבת יעקב - אביו לא היה הגון לפיכך לא הזכירו:
Rashi tells us that this Amora was called “Yaakov Son of the Daughter of Yaakov” because his father was not fitting to mention.
We cannot know what crimes his father committed but it is inspiri …
"I picked up my red [30 day] chip today...As proud as I am, I've been down this road before. Now's when I gotta really start working to keep my sobriety. Relapse can creep up so fast if I get too confident"
As my client shared this milestone, I realized that today, too, marks my own 30 days "in recovery" of a different sort.
30 days ago today, I experienced the rigorous, spiritually rehabilitative process of Teshuva.
On Yom Kippur and the 40 day …
The Importance of a Secret
This Gemara tells over several teachings in the names of the סבי דפומבדיתא
Who are the סבי דפומבדיתא, the Elders of Pumbeditha?
סנהדרין י״ז, ב
סבי דפומבדיתא רב יהודה ורב עינא
The phrase: The Elders of Pumbedita, is referring to Rav Yehuda and Rav Eina
The Gemara Chagigah 13a tells us an interesting story about the סבי דפומבדיתא
רב יוסף …
It’s What is Brought that Counts
This section of the Gemara discusses a scenario where the ladder or wall giving access was built out of wood from an Asheira Tree. Since an Asheira tree is idolatrous, It is forbidden to derive benefit from the wood. There are many times in the Gemara where this form of idolatry is mentioned. Let us take a closer look to understand the Asheira phenomenon and what was the nature of its prohibition :
The first …
