Michael el Chayil

Every year we blow the shofar the entire month of Elul and suddenly stop—without warning, except for the fact that is what we did last year and all the last years for centuries—the day before Rosh HaShannah. Every year we blow the shofar on Rosh HaShannah. Some years like this one, we don't blow the shofar on the first day of Rosh HaShannah because it is Shabbos. All of this is terribly confusing to the Satan. It is so confusing to him that he can't even express his charges (all quite valid, mind you) against Klal Yisrael. I mean, he is so befuddled that he drops his whole pile of notes; so flustered that he can't put two words together; so confused that he just gives up in dejection and walks out. There is another time we confuse the Satan by not blowing the shofar, namely, when Rosh HaShannah falls on Shabbos. Nowadays, when only the first day of Rosh HaShannah can fall on Shabbos, that means that in those years, as happened this past 5787, we did not fulfill the biblical...

Divine providence is just so cool. I was recently given a new sefer about life lessons we can learn from Mr. (sic; as was his preference) Avi Shulman, which we began reading at our s'uda this past Shabbos. This morning's DailyDose was a story about Mr. Avi Shulman and the mussar he took from a simple trip to the airport. To top it off, today's Vayimaen video presented a powerful mashal from the great mashgiach R' Matisyahu Saloman, ztz"l, which fit beautifully with the story. (I would share the direct link to this video, but that takes you to YouTube, and I can't be responsible for what ads and/or other "videos that might interest you" may show up. Buyer beware.) The upcoming עשרת ימי תשובה/Ten Days of Repentance begins with Rosh HaShanah and culminates with Yom Kippur. The observance of these events in our yearly cycle could not be more different. On Rosh HaShannah we have a festive meal, celebrate our relationship with the King of the Universe by t...

Consider these two facts we know about Avraham Avinu: Avraham Avinu kept all the mitzvos, both those from the Torah and those of Rabbinic origin. Avraham Avinu performed a self-administered (!!) Bris Milah at 99 years of age. Question: Why the delay? The mitzvah of Bris Milah is about as fundamental to Torah Judaism as you get. The answer is surprisingly straightforward: Avraham most certainly could have circumcised himself. But that is not the mitzvah of Bris Milah. Being circumcised (roughly a third of the world population) does not make you Jewish any more than eating a salad makes you a vegan. The circumcision is, so to speak, the way we Jews sign on the dotted line that we have accepted the Covenant that HaShem, the Creator and Author of reality, has offered to His treasured nation. When Avraham Avinu circumcised himself at the behest of the Creator, he was entering into that convenant. He obviously couldn't do that until the covenenant was offered. Can we talk a bit about ראש...

Here are some seemingly good things: Having the flight attendant tell you minutes before take off that you can move all the way up to the middle of the plane and have a whole row to yourself. Your flight arrives 30 minutes early (and you were much closer to the front of the plane), so you can make mincha and not miss a kaddish. Having a choice of kosher snacks and beverages on a flight and getting two of the chocolate quinoa ones. (Chocolate makes it delicious and quinoa makes it a healthy snack choice; win-win.) Here are some seemingly bad things: Flight delayed by two hours while sitting on the runway. Being suddenly wrenched awake from a deep and peaceful sleep by a blaring horn. Having a kidney stone that is in the upper 20th percentile of size and being hospitalized out of town on the day of your return flight. Let's start with that last one. I don't want to get into that game of "what hurts more, kidney stones or childbirth?" I also want to keep this TftD SFG (s...

The OU has a very nice program called Halacha Yomi that consists of a daily (except legal holidays) email that covers a broad range of halachic topics. ( More about this program and to subscribe here. ) In a recent Halachi Yom, the topic of food made with even small amounts of meat or wine was discussed. My wife and I read and discuss them in the morning during breakfast. After reading/learning through the email, my wife asked, "So what about grape jelly?" Hmmm... good question. I never thought about it, nor had I seen it discussed. I decided to do some research. In the old days, I would have just Googled for any references to grape jelly, nine days, Tisha b'Av, etc. Then I would have perused the hits until I found something relevant/interesting. I like to do research before talking with the dayan so I don't waste his time. Now we have AI, so that saves me time also, right? Well... Let me walk you through my journey. I decided to start my research be looking for the b...

Everyone loves a good leniency. There is a famous dictum that applies to all areas of halacha: ספק דרבנן לקולא, ספק דאורייתא לחומרא/Where an irresolvable doubt is present: with regard to Rabbinic decrees, we rule leniently; with regard to Torah prohibition, we rule stringently. A famous example that comes up annually is respect to counting the Omer when one has definitely missed a day. On the one hand, it might be that the counting of each and every day is the fulfillment of a Torah requirement; therefore, we continue to count the rest of the days. On the other hand, it might not be a mitzvah at all once a day has been missed, in which case it would be innappropriate to make a bracha. Since (nearly) all brachos are mandated by Rabbinic decree, one does not make the bracha before counting the days of the Omer after the missed day. So far, so good. Boringly straightforward at this point in my learning. Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned (Yoreh Dea 92:7) that one can be lenient...