Question: Someone tried to observe Shabbat but could not hold out from violating its laws in the latter part of the day. Does he receive a reward for the amount of Shabbat he observed? Or is reward ...

The baal teshuvah’s choice implies a rejection of a way of life that family and friends still find fulfilling. On the flip side, family and friends often assume, outwardly or not, that a baal teshuvah ...

Some days ago, I had an interesting conversation with someone. Coming into this conversation, I intuitively believed that a person who is firm and unbending would naturally be more disciplined and ...

Question: What do righteous, learned Torah scholars and newly observant Jews, or baalei teshuvah, have in common? Answer: The way they recite blessings. No, it’s not funny, nor meant to be. It’s ...

The sound of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah, the great 12th-century Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides wrote, is a wake-up call for the soul. Its message: "Arise from your slumber! Search your ways and ...

The Ramban [Torat Hashem Temima; chapter 7] writes that most of the mysteries of creation are encapsulated in parshat Bereishit, - so caution must be taken, not to understand the parasha on a ...

Sign up for the Yiddish Brief, a bissel of all things Yiddish, brought to you weekly by our Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter. A new video recording in which the late ...

HUC professor documents the role of language in taking on new, observant lifestyle. Princeton — Over a kosher Chinese meal at a Lunch & Learn program in Princeton University’s Center for Jewish Life, ...