From: Raizy Dear Rabbi, Our prayers are verbal, linguistic and very expressive. This is especially true for the High Holiday liturgy. Still, the pinnacle and highlight of the Rosh Hashana prayers is the wordless, raw, and simple sound of the shofar. What is the explanation for this? Dear Raizy, You are right. While the shofar[…]
From: Netanel Dear Rabbi, I became a ba’al teshuva years ago. Since then, I did teshuva on all my sins, and haven’t done any serious new ones. So what should I be focusing on during this whole period of repentance spanning Elul, Rosh Hashana, the Ten Days of Teshuva and Yom Kippur? Dear Netanel, As[…]
From: Phillip Dear Rabbi, There is clearly a lot of trepidation and enthusiasm surrounding the “U’netane Tokef” liturgy in the Rosh Hashana prayer service. I’m wondering what it means and why it seems to be treated with extra special reverence. Dear Phillip, Indeed the U’netane tokef prayer is considered to be one of the more[…]
From: Marcia Dear Rabbi, I’m sure you’re familiar with the following phenomenon: Every year at Rosh Hashana time I make grandiose plans to improve myself but after all is said and done, I accomplish very little change. Could you help me with this? Dear Marcia, Sure I’m familiar with this, from personal experience, as most[…]
From: Liana Dear Rabbi, I see the astrological sign for Tishrei is Libra. Would you please explain the significance of this and if it has anything to do with the month itself? Thanks. Dear Liana, You are correct, and Libra in Hebrew is “moznayim” which mean balancing scales and it has everything to do with[…]
From: Yehuda Dear Rabbi, I know it’s Elul, and that this is the time to do teshuva in preparation for Rosh Hashana. But I also know that to do proper teshuva that is accepted by HaShem, a person has to: 1. Verbally express his transgressions, 2. Feel regret for having done them, and 3. Accept[…]
From: Melanie Dear Rabbi, Why is Rosh Hashana considered the Day of Judgment and what exactly is being judged and how? Dear Melanie, Rosh Hashana was ordained as a day of judgment for two reasons: The first is that on this day, the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, the creation of the[…]
From: Robert Dear Rabbi, If a person does something wrong then regrets it, accepting upon himself not to do it again, and then later does the same thing again, over and over, repenting then transgressing, does that help at all? Is there any purpose after a certain point of even repenting? Dear Robert, Our Sages[…]
From: Amanda Dear Rabbi, Is there a concept of New Year’s resolutions in Judaism for Rosh Hashana? Thanks for your time! Dear Amanda, The answer is yes, and presumably even more so than in what’s generally associated with the non-Jewish New Year. For most who attribute significance to December 31/January 1, the celebrations of the[…]
From: Shiri Dear Rabbi, It is now the month of Elul, a special time for teshuva in preparation and anticipation for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. But I’ve run into a problem. I don’t know exactly how to do teshuva or what path to take. Please set me on course. Dear Shiri, It’s interesting that[…]