Yom Kippur
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Habit and Change
I’ve been doing something that I now realize is wrong, but I’ve been doing it so long that it’s become habitual. It’s an uphill battle. I’m working to improve my performance, but I often seem to fall back into my…
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Animal Sacrifice, Chicken Waving, and Stoning of Children
Do people still do burnt offerings nowadays with animals? I hope not. I know we no longer obey laws of stoning rebellious children to death. I have heard about the chicken twirling on Yom Kippur, also no longer practiced among…
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Prayer and Repentance
Whenever I do something I know is wrong, I feel horrible the next day. I was wondering if there are any prayers I can say or anything that the Torah provides that can make you feel better? Is there anything…
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Selichot
What are Selichot? Selichot are liturgical poems created especially for the High Holiday season and for the fast days on the Jewish calendar. They were written by medieval Rabbis to convey the spirit of seriousness that we should have at…
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The Essence of Yom Kippur
I noticed that the word repentance never shows up in the text when addressing Yom Kippur. There are numerous times when it is noted that “atonement” will come but there seems to be no mention of repentance. Have I missed…
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Nuts on Rosh Hashana
What is the custom about not eating nuts on Rosh Hashana? Is it just Rosh Hashana? No Nuts until Yom Kippur because the Hebrew word for nut is “egoz”, which has the Gematria* of “chayt” – “sin”. This serves as…
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“Our Father, Our King” Prayer on Shabbat
Why do we NOT say Avinu Malkeinu (“Our Father, Our King”) prayer on Shabatt and why is Shabat Yom Kippur the exception to this rule? We do not say Avinu Malkeinu on Shabbat, because most of the prayer is asking…
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Three Stages of Repentance
What does the Rambam say about the three stages of repentence? From the Rambam’s Laws of Repentance:”And what is the [discussed] repentance; The sinner should take leave of his sin, remove it from his thoughts, and decide in his heart…
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Repentance for Repeat Offenders
How do we understand the concept of Teshuva (repentance)? How can we stand before G-d and beg for forgiveness, and then one year later we stand again asking for forgiveness for the exact same things we asked the previous year?…