Michael el Chayil

For many years now (decades, actually... wow!), we have been getting together with close friends on Shabbos after the vasikin minyan to make kiddush, have a bite to eat—sometimes just pastries, chips, and stuff, sometimes a full-blown s'uda. In any case, the one who makes kiddush has always sat for the kiddush ceremony. One week, he stood. Why he did that, what our response was—and what it should have been (our halachic response, I mean... we were all a bit taken by surprise), what the different parts of the kiddush service are, and why people do different things are all, b'ezras HaShem, topics we'll cover in this TftD. Strap in. The kiddush ceremonies on Friday night and Shabbos are somewhat different. Friday night fulfills a Torah obligation and is beautified with Rabbinic enhancements. We start with a declaration/testimony that HaShem created the world in six and then capped it all off with Shabbos, aka וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ. We then proceed with the actual kiddush blessing, which...

In English we have the term "pregnant pause," which means a deliberate, often long, and sometimes uncomfortable moment of silence in speech, acting, or conversation that is "full of" meaning, significance, or anticipation. There are also dramatic and poignant pauses, which are typically shorter. All three techniques can be used to build suspense (pregnant), add emphasis to the point just made  (dramatic) , and/or encourage introspection and allow the matter to be internalized (poignant). They can each be used for any of those effects; I just indicated the most usual flavor of pause used in each situation... in my humble opinion. The ellipsis in the preceding sentence was meant to convey a poignant pause and encourage the reader to form their own thoughts on the topic. All this is to make the communication more engaging. <Feel free to fill in your own thoughts here while I make myself a cup of coffee.> It is also possible for a pause to turn into an interruptio...

The C humash shiur given by  R' Schwimmer at the Tessler home each Friday night during the (extended) winter season is always filled with chidushim and gives me a new perspective on the parasha in particular and Chumash in general. Some shiurim, though, just "hit me where I live." R' Schwimmer gave us particularly deep insight into the machlokes brought by the ba'al hagada about whether there were 10, 40, or 50 plagues in Mitzrayim. Before that, though, we need some preliminaries. Chazal (and, in fact, ancient philosophy/science in general, beginning with the Greeks) talk about the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth. You may be thinking, "Hah! Those silly old fashioned thinkers! Now, of course, we know there are over 100 elements!" The fact that chemists -- who are just the modern incarnation of alchemists -- call those "elements" is no more impressive to me than what rabbis of the Reform Jewish Religion call Torah. In fact, the word ...

I decided when I added a full morning seder to my learning schedule, that I should put some time into learning the prophets. I have read (I wish I could say "learned", but... ) the so-called נביאים ראשונים/early prophets, so now it is time to dive into נביאים אחרונים/later prophets. I strive to be irritatingly consistent, so obviously I started in order from the beginning with ישעיה/Isaiah. My Hebrew is fairly good, so I opted to learn -- on the advice of one of the foremost authorities on Tanach in Chicago -- from the R' Kook series, which is an excellent guide in modern Hebrew by Orthodox sources. After trying for more than a year and making little progress, I admitted to myself that my Hebrew is just not that good and and now learning from the really, really excellent ArtScroll -- The Milstein Edition -- prophets, which includes Rashi, Metzuda, Radak, and a beautiful English elucidation. I am now making palpable progress. Since there are so many haftarahs are taken fro...

In the old days, I got most of my exercise by riding my bike to/from work four days a week. Then Covid hit, so I started just taking 10-12 mile rides at noon-ish just to keep up the exercise. Then winter would hit and I switched to treadmill. (I think "detest" is too strong a word for how I feel about walking on a treadmill, but only a bit too strong.) I often worked from home on Fridays, so I would walk to/from shul on Fridays to get some steps in. Now that I am learning and working close to home, I've decided to walk to/from shul everyday. During the winter? I bundle up and walk faster. When it snows? Boots. When it is icy... so that's where this starts. Not only have I been learning/davening at the same place, bli ayin hara, every morning for over 30 years, I have also been sitting next to the same dear friend for a good portion of that time. He is more or less used to me. Just to level set this. I am at shul in the mornings for about three hours each morning betwe...

We are currently in the Shovavim ( שובבי״ם ) period of the Jewish year. A time for introspection and change. The acronym comes from the first letter of the six parshios covering our enslavement in Mitzrayim through receiving the Torah. In these parshios, Paroh receives warning after warning from HaShem via His prophet Moshe Rabeinu. Paroh seems to just not get it. What is his problem? Why didn't he listen? Let's punctuate the answer to that question with a couple of fun stories. I moved to Chicago with my family just a few years before the turn of the century. (It was 1993 CE, actually,  but "turn of the century" sounds way cooler!) We moved here -- as newly Orthodox Jews -- to find a Jewish community that would nurture and support our continued growth in Torah and avodas HaShem. I was discussing how happy we are that we moved to Chicago with a good friend of mine who grew up in Chicago. He had a great way of summarizing what we have found: Chicago has everything New ...