Rosh HaShana 2016 / 5777 Based on R. Tsadok HaKohen, Tikanat HaShavin 5:10-12, Tsidkat HaTsadik [40]Sarah Yehudit Schneider There are three categories of tikunim, says the Leshem, and every person has some portion of each on their cosmic to-do list[i]. The first category are tikunim that only happen when we do the right thing. We keep taking the test until we get it right. This is what we generally think of as a tikun. The second category is more mysterious. These tikunim on

Chanukka 2016 / 5777 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Make a menorah out of pure gold. The menorah shall be formed by hammering. Its base, stem, and [decorative] cups, spheres and flowers must be beaten out of a [single piece of gold]. Six branches shall extend from [the central shaft that serves as its seventh]…The whole thing shall be hammered out of a single piece of pure gold….[Ex. 25:31-36] Everyone knows that when the Maccabees wrested the Temple back from its Greek occupiers,

Tu B’Shvat 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider God made grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to look at and good to eat, [including] the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil…God gave the man a commandment, saying, ‘You may definitely eat from every tree of the garden. But from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, do not eat, for on the day you eat from it, you will definitely die.’…The woman replied to the serpe

Purim, 5777 / 2017Sarah Yehudit Schneider Based on the teachings of R. Tsadok HaKohen[1] “To the Jews there was light—אורה…” (the feminine form of the word indicating the Oral Torah, as opposed to אור, which is masculine and refers to Scripture itself). [Esther 8:16] “It came to pass, on the third day, that Esther donned malchut…[Esther 5:1].She wrapped herself in ruach hakodesh (holy spirit)…[Rashi, there]. [On Purim] it all turns upside down… [Esther 9:1]. On Purim we final

Pesach 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider Blessed be the Makom (Place). Blessed be He. Blessed be the one who gave Torah to His people, Israel. Blessed be He. The Torah addresses four children. The wise one, the bad one, the simple one, and the one who doesn’t know to ask.בָּרוּךְ הַמָּקוֹם, בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בָּרוּךְ שֶׁנָּתַן תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּרוּךְ הוּא. כְּנֶגֶד אַרְבָּעָה בָנִים דִּבְּרָה תוֹרָה: אֶחָד חָכָם. וְאֶחָד רָשָׁע. וְאֶחָד תָּם. וְאֶחָד שֶׁאֵינוֹ

Tisha B’av 5777 / 2017 Sarah Yehudit Schneider [When you come into your Promised Land] HaShem will only uproot the nations before you gradually, little by little. You will not be able to defeat them quickly, so the wild animals do not overwhelm you. [Deut. 7:22] וְנָשַׁל יְי א-ֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת-הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵל מִפָּנֶיךָ מְעַט מְעָט לֹא תוּכַל כַּלֹּתָם מַהֵר פֶּן-תִּרְבֶּה עָלֶיךָ חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה Moshe speaks these words before his death with Israel poised to enter their pr