יום רביעי, כ״ב אב תשפ״וWednesday, August 5, 2026
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Rachel Weiss is the author of “Forever In Awe” (Feldheim Publishers) and can be contacted at ForeverinAwe@verizon.net.
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By Rachel Weiss
Their anguish and tears were for naught; one was told to go left, the other ordered to go right.
By Rachel Weiss
If we use this propitious time wisely, Hashem will forgive our iniquities of the whole year and grant us a new, clean slate.
By Rachel Weiss
How apt a reminder that this remorseful time will pass before we know it, and the next full moon will shed its light upon our universe on a joyful fifteenth of Av.
By Rachel Weiss
Their heartache is unimaginable, yet they persevere with their life’s mission with a fervency and faith, seemingly fortified by the tragedy that rocked their world.
By Rachel Weiss
The lush greens nourished by the healing rains of Iyar heighten our anticipation of the approaching Yom Tov that established us for all time as a holy nation, beholden to and beloved by our Creator.
By Rachel Weiss
The comfort and chizuk these wives offered their husbands, uplifting their morale, did not escape our all-seeing Father in heaven.
By Rachel Weiss
Those born in Adar are charitable, great listeners and good companions.
By Rachel Weiss
The month of Shevat shares its element of air with the months of Sivan and Tishrei. During Sivan, the light of the Torah was revealed to us on Har Sinai.
By Rachel Weiss
Yiras Hashem (fear of Hashem), a lofty objective we continuously strive to achieve, transforms the negative element of Teves into positive, spiritual fulfillment.
By Rachel Weiss
The Jewish nation thankfully emerged from their spiritual slumber just in time...
By Rachel Weiss
Rosh Hashanah on the first of Tishrei comes to assure us that we needn’t despair, for Hashem, our Heavenly Father, is eager to accept our teshuvah and wipe our slate clean.
By Rachel Weiss
Deep contemplation, loyalty, ambition and intelligence define the traits of one born in Elul, the month symbolized by Virgo, a sign of purity.
By Rachel Weiss
He implored the talmid to come up with a way he could return the money without implicating himself.
By Rachel Weiss
While he frequently brought “friends” home, Josh never let on how this one was friendless, or how the other was someone he’d spotted sitting on a stoop outdoors looking miserable.
By Rachel Weiss
The sign of the powerful bull (shor) is symbolic of Iyar (Taurus), while the part of the body representative of the month is the neck.
By Rachel Weiss
The word matzah (mem, tzadik, hei) is an acronym for “mikol tzara hitzilanu (from all my troubles He has saved me)” ...in the merit of achilas matzah, of consuming matzah.
By Rachel Weiss
Esther and Mordechai, the two righteous individuals and luminaries in Megillas Esther, effectively moved the heavens with their tears, deeds and supplications.
By Rachel Weiss
The month of Adar is characterized by the emotion of unbridled joy.
By Rachel Weiss
As to which species of fruit caused the downfall of Adam and Eve and their subsequent ouster from the Garden, the verdict is still out.
By Rachel Weiss
How apropos that the letter Ayin, with a numerical value of seventy, is associated with the month of Teves.
By Rachel Weiss
His dilemma weighed heavily on him, even as he was in the process of burying a poor departed soul.
By Rachel Weiss
Each month of the Jewish year is associated with a letter of the Lashon Hakodesh.
By Rachel Weiss
"Who said one must pray with a whole heart? Perhaps it's preferable to pray with a broken heart."
By Rachel Weiss
A man from a distant city once came to Reb Hershel to bemoan the sorry state of his business affairs. To the tzaddik’s inquiry about the extent of his knowledge of religious practice, the man readily admitted his ignorance.
By Rachel Weiss
It must have been the warm ambiance of their humble yet welcoming home. Or maybe it was their broad shoulders and understanding hearts…
By Rachel Weiss
"You do know that nothing occurs without reason. Can you think of something you might have done to bring on your malaise?"
By Rachel Weiss
It is no coincidence that Nissan marks the start of spring, when nature comes alive in all its glory.
By Rachel Weiss
According to the Sefer Yetzirah, the nature of the month of Kislev is sleep.
By Rachel Weiss
Just as the moon waxes, wanes and renews itself, so has the nation of Israel renewed itself through the millennia.
By Rachel Weiss
Known by all as a happy-go-lucky fellow, Yossel’s lackluster parnassah never got the better of him. His dejected-looking wife, however, hardly shared his simchas ha’chayim and Yossel would often attempt to cheer her with words of chizuk.
By Rachel Weiss
The girl who had remarkably survived the accident had previously not led a religious lifestyle - which unsurprisingly changed after this event.
By Rachel Weiss
"Is my husband's Olam Haba'ah really worth the sume of 1,000 ruble?"
By Rachel Weiss
Readers who have kept up with this series since its inception will have noted a consistent emphasis on the role women have played in our rich heritage.
By Rachel Weiss
On this Shabbos Parshas Mishpatim, we bentch Shabbos Mevorchim Adar Rishon, Rosh Chodesh falling on Friday and Shabbos (January 31 and February 1). Mishenichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha – with the beginning of Adar rejoicing is increased… by virtue of an extra Adar, our jubilation is extended this year.
By Rachel Weiss
The month of Shevat, according to the Sefer Yetzirah, is associated with the letter tzaddik. A Tzaddik is, literally, a righteous person, one who eats to live, to have the energy to serve the Ribono shel Olam – versus the gluttonous, insatiable kind that live to eat, to satisfy their corporeal cravings.
By Rachel Weiss
According to the Sefer Yetzirah, each month is associated with a letter of the aleph-beis. Teves was formed by means of the letter ayin, which has a numerical value of seventy – a number that figures prominently in Judaism.
By Rachel Weiss
On the 25th day of Kislev the holy light of Chanukah shines upon us to conquer the darkness, and proper adherence to its mitzvah purifies our souls. It is written that Chanukah is an extension of Rosh Hashanah and thus a most effectual time for teshuvah.
By Rachel Weiss
The summer season we pined for on those dreary, shivery winter days is all but coming to a close. What better way for reality to sink in than the call of the shofar that wrests us from our repose on the first of Elul, reminding us that we have serious work ahead. Luckily we get thirty days to pull ourselves together, so that we have a leg to stand on when we petition Hashem on the Yom HaDin to grant us mechila for our shortcomings of the past year.
By Rachel Weiss
On this coming Shabbos Parshas Matos-Masai we bentch Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av. Rosh Chodesh (on Yom Sheini - Monday, July 8) marks the start of the mournful “nine days” during which we restrict many activities normally taken for granted, such as eating meat and drinking wine (Shabbos is an exception), the purchasing and wearing of new clothes, doing laundry (the washing of children’s clothing may be permitted; consult your halachic authority), listening to music, swimming and participating in joyful pursuits.
By Rachel Weiss
On this Shabbos, Parshas Shelach, we bentch Rosh Chodesh Tammuz which falls on the following Shabbos Kodesh and Yom Rishon (June 8 and 9 on the English calendar).
By Rachel Weiss
It is with great excitement and expectancy that we bentch Rosh Chodesh Sivan — which comes out on Friday (May 10 on the English calendar).
By Rachel Weiss
Seems like we crossed the sea just yesterday, yet here we are literally counting down to the big day ahead – it is less than six weeks away. On this Shabbos, Parshas Shemini, we bentch Rosh Chodesh Iyar, which falls on Yom Revi’i and Yom Chamishi (Wednesday and Thursday). It was during this month that […]
By Rachel Weiss
On this Shabbos, Shabbos Parshas Ha’Chodesh, we bentch the new month of Nissan — referred to in the Torah as Chodesh Ha’Aviv, the month of spring. Rosh Chodesh falls on Yom Shlishi (Tuesday), heralding the start of a new lunar year and commemorating the inception of the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh.
By Rachel Weiss
On Shabbos Parshas Shekalim we bentch Rosh Chodesh Adar, the month that concludes the lunar year cycle and marks the last of the six winter months. As Rosh Chodesh falls on Yom Rishon and Yom Sheni (Sunday and Monday), Shabbos Mevorchim coincides with erev Rosh Chodesh.
By Rachel Weiss
Is it just me? Maybe it’s the aging factor. The shorter days perhaps? Somehow by the time the day is done there is still so much left to do. This nagging sensation becomes even more acute right before the end of the year when you know you’ll soon need to give a din v’cheshbon and will, in all likelihood, come up short.
By Rachel Weiss
This coming Shabbos we bentch Rosh Chodesh Shevat, which falls on Shabbos Kodesh (January 12). The highlight of this month is of course Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the trees. As the mind conjures up images of spring, I can spot nary a sign of spring from my vantage point here in the northeastern part of the U.S.
By Rachel Weiss
Whatever the state of world affairs or shift in political winds, one thing remains a constant in our lives: the quest for shidduchim. There is no family or individual among us who does not know at any given time of someone in search of his or her destined life partner; yet too often the hunt is fraught with complexities and accompanied by sleepless nights and a furrowed brow.
By Rachel Weiss
Our Jewish calendar is based on the lunar year, and Rosh Chodesh, literally the head of the month, occurs when the moon renews itself. It is a holiday — in that we daven mussaf, just like on Shabbos and Yomim Tovim, we do not conduct fasts, and the pious among our people eat a special seudah. Traditionally, women do not sew on Rosh Chodesh and refrain from performing heavy-duty tasks.
By Rachel Weiss
Sukkos comes to us as a beautifully wrapped gift from Hashem, right when we can use some pampering. Having just completed an exhaustive round of appeals to our Father in heaven to forgive our iniquities and grant us yet another chance to prove ourselves worthy of His beneficence and mercy, we emerge as newborns – clean and pure and free of the stain of sin.
By Rachel Weiss
This is in no way intended to dampen the enthusiasm of kallahs flush with excitement over their upcoming nuptials, but who hasn’t heard a “lost diamond ring” story or, for that matter, experienced firsthand the traumatic loss of a precious piece of jewelry?
By Rachel Weiss
Shavuos. How unremarkable a name for a Yom Tov that celebrates the very foundation of our existence. Actually, Shavuos is one of five names designated for this holiday, the others being Atzeres, Yom HaBikurim, Chag HaKatzir and Z’man Mattan Toraseinu.
By Rachel Weiss
Just last week we experienced the crowning point of the month of Adar by commemorating the extraordinary events that unfolded in the ancient Persian Empire. We read the scroll of Esther, enjoyed a hearty feast, and traded gifts of goodies with each other.
By Rachel Weiss
Shemos B’nei Yisroel began last week’s parsha – these are the names of the children of Yisroel.
July 31, 2026 
