Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays, The Holy Land

The Secret to Aliyah and Sukkot

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I have an American friend who keeps schlepping his family back and forth between Israel and America (specifically, California). When he’s living in California (as he is now), he’s dreaming about Israel: “I miss living in the Jewish state, where Jewish education is free and you get the holidays off from work. We’re coming back to Israel soon!”

And yet he has already left Israel twice to go live in America for long stints, in large part because he loves his higher earning potential in the motherland.

I’m trying hard to be less judgmental and argumentative, but because he keeps claiming he wants to settle down in Israel and remain here, I am dying to tell him the secret to successful Aliyah…

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Holidays, Simcha Techniques

Sukkot and the Fight Club

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Don’t worry, I’m not recommending fist fights in your Sukkah (the temporary hut Jews inhabit during the festival of Sukkot). That would likely wreck the walls of your Kosher Sukkah!

I’m simply noting that one of the main themes of the Fight Club, a thought-provoking movie starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, is also a dominant theme of Sukkot. This theme has much to teach us about simcha (Jewish joy).

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Holidays, Mussar, Simcha Techniques

Yom Kippur – You’re Doing it Wrong

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No days were as festive for Israel as Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur –Tractate Ta’anit.

What is the Mishna trying to tell us? We understand why Tu B’Av, a magical day of love, was considered a happy day. But Yom Kippur? Isn’t that supposed to be the day that we punish our bodies by fasting and reflect on the many awful things we did in the previous year? How does that promote simcha (Jewish joy)?

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Holidays, Parenting, Self-Esteem

The “Playful Child” on Rosh HaShana

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Rabbi Gideon Weitzman, the rabbi of my shul/beit knesset in Modi’in, recently published an excellent book entitled, His Words, Their Voices: Essays on the Haftarot.

In his essay on the specific Haftarah (a section of the book of Prophets) that is read communally on the second day of Rosh HaShana, Rabbi Weitzman struck a chord with me by writing about the “playful child.”

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Holidays, Simcha Techniques

Mikveh Before Rosh HaShana

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Because many Jews immerse in a mikveh (ritual bath) before Rosh HaShana, I am re-posting a previous blog post about a happiness visualization for the mikveh. Have a sweet and HAPPY New Year! 

— Simcha 

After deciding to start my current search for simcha (Jewish joy) on Hoshana Rabbah, one of the first things I did that morning was immerse myself in one of the local mikvehs. Hoshana Rabbah is the day when the judgment process that has started on Rosh HaShana is sealed, and I wanted to feel spiritually pure.

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Holidays, Mussar, Simcha Techniques

Crucial Practice for Post-Rosh HaShana Happiness

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One of the number one things most of us will be praying for on Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year, is happiness. Jewish joy (simcha) is the nectar that will enable us to have a sweet New Year.

But it’s not as easy as merely requesting happiness from G-d. We have to work hard and partner with G-d to advance spiritually. And the first step is a technique called “cheshbon hanefesh,” or “an accounting of the soul.”

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Holidays, Marriage

Tu B’Av: Jewish Day of Love and Happiness

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Exactly fourteen years ago (according to the Jewish calendar), I asked Neetz if she wanted to officially be my girlfriend. She said “yes” and all these years later we have three kids, a wonderful home and countless funny stories.

Maybe part of our success has resulted from the fact that our romance began on Tu B’Av, a magical Jewish holiday of love and happiness.

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Holidays, Kindness, Self-Esteem

My Tisha B’Av Flaw

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For many of my (nearly) 39 years on this Earth, I went for the jugular during arguments. It didn’t matter who I was arguing with — family, close friends, mere acquaintances — instead of seeking common ground, I would directly challenge and attempt to disprove the other person’s argument. Too often I made it personal.

Some of my friends would laugh about my ability to “burn the bridge” (while perhaps secretly worrying that I would one day end the friendship with them as well).

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Holidays, Meditation

#MeditationMonday – The Priestly Meditation

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Today, the second intermediary day of Pesach (Passover), hundreds of Kohanim (Jews descended from Moses’ brother Aaron, who was the head of the priestly class) and  thousands of Jews in Israel went to the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem for the traditional Birkat Kohanim (the priestly blessing).

This blessing features powerful words that can be experienced as a deep meditation. Shrouded in their tallitot (the ritual prayer shawl), the Kohanim recite the following words to the onlookers:

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Holidays, Mussar

What is YOUR Chametz?

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Pesach (Passover) is coming soon and we Jews are busy searching for and cleaning the chametz (leavened food that is forbidden on Pesach) from our homes. But we must not get so busy searching for the pretzels our kids stuffed behind the couch cushions that we forget to look for the chametz inside of ourselves.

What is this internal chametz? It’s all the detritus – the negative character traits, immoral desires, etc. – that impurify us and hold us back from being the best that we can be.

What is YOUR chametz?

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