Sukkos

"Fortunate is he who did not sin!One who did should returnAnd will be forgiven" This is the song that was taught at the annual "Simchas Beis Hashoeva" festivities in the Beis Hamikdash (1) Which sin are they referring to? And why was the the song of choice? They were hint...

Dear GYE Family, I hope everyone had an easy fast and a meaningful and uplifting Yom Kippur. Now as we move from the Yemei HaDin (which were also Yemei HaSimcha) into the days of Z'man Simchaseinu, I'd like to share a few thoughts with the chevra, which have special signi...

Today is the Ushpizin of Yosef Hatzadik, and tonight - Hoshana Rabba, is the Ushpizin of David Hamelech. The Zohar in Parshas Lech Lecha, discusses the merits that both Yosef and David had that enabled them to achieve kingdom. Here is what the Zohar writes: The Pasuk stat...

You may find that the Yetzer Hara feels stronger these days than usual. Because it's vacation-time, people are often not learning as much Torah as they usually do. Hashem says "barasi Yetzer Hara, barasi torah tavlin" - "I created the Yetzer Hara, and I created the Torah...

Sukkos is a time of Simcha. The Chassidic Rebbe of Karlin once said that with Simcha Shel Mitzva a Yid can break down all barriers! The Yetzer Hara just flees when Jews rejoice with Hashem's Mitzvos. Have a Simchadik Yom-Tov!

Last night was very, very tough. My wife had to go out shopping, which would have been a great time for me to act out previously. I won't say I wasn't tempted, but I looked at my personal printout of my 90 day chart and ...

Chaza"l say that the Schach should be from "Pesoles Goren Ve'Yakev". Why do Chazal use the Lashon of "Pesoles", couldn't they have found a nicer way to describe the material we use for this holy Mitzva? Says the Alter Sadigerer Rebbe ...

For the first time in many years, I just took some time to learn this afternoon in the Sukkah and just enjoy this mitzvah. I was able to identify with my feelings for the first time in many years. Es chatai ani mazkir hayom... I rememb...

It seems that for me and a lot of people on the forum, the days after yom Kippur were especially hard. But why? Shouldn't they be easy for us? At least for a few days till Y"K wears off! Why were we falling or having such urges to ...

Before Yom-Kippur, some people were discussing on the forum how they think their Yom-Kippur will be, based on where they are "holding" in their struggle, and whether they feel inspired or not. Dov posted the following importan...