Here are some of the things we do or have done at our Passover seder to make it more fun and interesting. As always, feel free to consult your own halakhic authority if you want before adopting these ideas. Bedikat Chametz בְּדִיקַת חָמֵץ searching for...
This week, I had the opportunity to share with the Dolphinim and the Nesharim some of my family’s Haggadot. I was especially proud to share my child Gabriella Spitzer’s Haggadah Min HaMeitzar הַגָּדָה מִן הַמֵּצַר–Gabriella used to live in Albany, and it was...
Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, known as the Netziv, was a giant in Torah study. Unlike some great scholars of the 19th century who were recognized as geniuses in their youth, the Netziv was rather unremarkable as a young man, but because of his tremendous dedication and...
Torah from HACD Purim and Chaos: Parashat Pekudei, March 15, 2024 Mi shenikhnas Adar marbin beSimchah מִשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אֲדָר מַרְבִּין בְּשִׂמְחָה.. When Adar comes in, we increase our joy. I had the pleasure of covering class with the Nesharim on Rosh...
Torah from HACDSpeaking with our Students: Parashat Ki Tisa, March 1, 2024 Our parasha is filled with interesting things. During my divrei Torah discussion with the students during Zman Kodesh on Monday, the students came up with all kinds of different ways...
Terumah תְּרוּמָה was my bar mitzvah parashah פָּרָשָׁה. At the time, I was excited about it because I wanted more than anything to be an architect, and Terumah תְּרוּמָה is all about the architecture of holy space. That career goal is in my past, but I still...
As I sit around my shabbat table, concluding the meal, I regularly throw my cloth napkin across the table to cover up the hallah knife. Most of the time I miss, or I only cover it partially. Actually, the custom is not to cover the knife on shabbat, but the logic of...
This week, we begin the Torah. Well, not really, but Rashi (the medieval French Torah commentator from the town of Troyes) famously asks why the Torah starts where it does, but assumes that it should or could begin with the beginning of this week’s parashah, Parashat...