Michael el Chayil

Let's start with something that sounds incredibly boring: We -- outside of Eretz Yisrael -- are one parasha behind the Torah reading in Eretz Yisrael. That happened because the last day of Pesach in Eretz Yisrael was on a Friday, so they returned to their normally scheduled programing of weekly Torah readings that Shabbos. For us, though, the last day of Pesach was Shabbos, so we couldn't return to our normally scheduled programing of weekly Torah readings until the following Shabbos. How long will we be out of sync? About 15 weeks, when we will double up on Matos-Ma'asei and the first Shabbos of the three weeks. So what, you ask? So, this , I say... Why are we waiting so long? The very Shabbos where this happened is, in fact, a doubleable parsha. We could have doubled up with Acharei-Mos/K'doshim and been in sync right away. That's question number one. Question number two: there are actually two more possibilities before that 2 Av date; why are we waiting so long? ...

I am, Baruch HaShem, getting older. Besides physical exercise to keep my lifetime warranty in force, it is important to also engage in mental exercises. Now, you might think that learning gemara, mishayos, halacha, and chumush would be enough mental exercise. It certainly should be. After all, if I am not doing one of those things in my "free" time, then I should be sleeping... right?  I strive to reach that level some time. In the meantime, though, there are times during the day when I am too tired or distracted to learn. What to do? Some options are: watch pareve movie/YouTube -- about as passive as you can get. Not a great option. It's like being on a diet and eating lots of celery. Keeps you busy, but provides no nutrition and doesn't really address the root issue. read a pareve book/article -- certainly better in terms of using your mind. But here's the thing... if it is intellectually stimulating, then it is likely more effort than I have to give. If it isn...

I was having a lively discussion about brachos with a couple of my grandchildren this last Shabbos. On the way to mincha, I related a story about brachos to my grandson: A guest (an important guest, but I have a terrible time with names) made a request of his host on Shabbos afternoon; he requested an apple and a strawberry. Before the host could find them, they realized it was time to leave for mincha. After mincha, the host found the fruits and brought them to his guest. The guest was appreciative, but said he no longer needed them. The host was confused, as they had not eaten anything in the meantime. The guest, seeing his host's confusion, explained: "I was short two brachos for my needed 100 today, so I asked for an "ha'adama" and "ha'eitz" fruit, but then I got an aliyah at mincha, so I am good now." My grandson and I were walking into shul for mincha just as I finished the story. As it turned out, I got the third aliyah. I should note th...

 Just for grins, I looked up what Merriam-Webster thinks is the definition of apikores: apikores api·​ko·​res variants: or apikoros \ ˌäpēˈkȯrəs \ plural apikorsim \ -​rsə̇m \ Definition of apikores : a Jew who is lax in observing Jewish law or who does not believe in Judaism; ...