mribiat

Dear Friends, The summer is almost upon us. For many of us, summer represents sunshine and perhaps a brief respite from our regular routine. For all of us, the summer signifies the advent of the Three Weeks, beginning with the 17th of Tamuz, culminating with the  9th of Av. This is a most serious time frame within the Jewish yearly calendar and is  distinctly a time of mourning. [...]

Dearest Friends, Spring has finally arrived. The world has come back to life after a long winter and I for one am delighted to greet the blossoming trees and gorgeous flowers that are popping out in the park across the street from my home. The spring has always been a season of rebirth, restoration, rejuvenation. Let the sun work its magic.. warming our very souls. Rabbi Yitzchak Kirzner [...]

Hello my dear friends, The Pesach season is upon us. The countdown has begun. Life will only get busier now, and I probably won't be on this blog again till after Pesach. That's a long stretch.. So much happening. BH, simchas, and nebach,  terribly sad occasions too. Life is a whirlwind of ups and downs. Hard sometimes to keep the balance. A dear friend and mentor, Yendelle Roitenberg [...]

Approximately three weeks ago, on the day that marked 11 months since my father’s passing, I stopped saying the mourner’s Kaddish. I am at present a mourner without the consolation of this most magnificent and mysterious prayer. The unparalleled Aramaic words of the Kaddish prayer, “Yisgadal v’yiskadash Shmei rabba (may His great Name be magnified and sanctified)”—followed by the proclamation of the respondents, “May His great Name be [...]

Dear Friends, We're in the middle of a very busy season. The weeks before Pesach tend to be particularly hectic and often quite stressful for many. Between our household preparations, kitchen duties, shopping for new Pesach wardrobes for ourselves and family members, and preparing to either host or interact with extended family members, we may have quite a bit on our plate.  For those who have recently suffered [...]

PART I Having lost a much wanted baby at a fairly advanced stage of pregnancy several years ago, I was reminded of a statement of Rav Eliyahu Lopian, zt"l who said, "Man's head and heart are like two different persons. The head knows and understands everything; nevertheless, the heart does what it feels and wants to do" (Lev Eliyahu, p.188). You can say all the "right" phrases to [...]