Mitzvot

Lessons from Hillel: There Is Generally No One “Right” Way in Halacha

There is a lesson that many conversion candidates and newly religious Jews are not told until they’ve made a fool of themselves: There are different interpretations of halacha, and it’s possible for all these interpretations to be halachically valid and accepted. In other words, the modern orthodox, the “just plain orthodox,” the chassidim, and the […]

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How to Have Toilet Paper on Shabbat

Taking on Shabbat observance will reveal details of your life that you have never considered before. For instance, you take toilet paper for granted. I promise you do. But then someone (or a book or website) will tell you, “Oh, you can’t tear toilet paper on Shabbat.” And then you will be confused. Rinse and

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Phrase of the Day: Hiddur Mitzvah

There is a mitzvah to make a mitzvah beautiful or otherwise enhance the mitzvah beyond the demands of the halacha through aesthetics. Generally, it refers to the beauty of a physical ritual object. The source for hiddur mitzvah is Exodus/Shmot 15:2 “This is my God, and I will glorify Him.” Many mitzvot require a physical

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Phrase of the Day: Yetzer Hara

Technically, if we’re going to talk about the yetzer hara, we’ll also discuss the yetzer hatov.  The yetzer hara is the “evil inclination.” Yetzer (inclination) ha (the) ra (evil). The yetzer hatov is the “good inclination.”  The yetzer hara gets a bad reputation, but it is a necessary part of each of us. The yetzer

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