![Slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Servitude.png)
Slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt
“We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt” (Deut. 6:21). We were slaves to Pharaoh, not Pharaoh’s slaves. The former would be only a juridic-social description; the Jews belonged to Pharaoh legally,...
Jan 6, 2010
By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
![Hanukkah and Independence Day](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Menorah.jpg)
Hanukkah and Independence Day
Is Hanukkah merely a holiday telling us a heroic story of battles won and political victories gained, like the American Fourth of July or the French Fourteenth of July? A political...
Dec 16, 2009
By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
![Vayeishev: Lighting the Chanukiah in Shul](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Menorah1.jpg)
Vayeishev: Lighting the Chanukiah in Shul
The gemara states that the mitzva of Chanuka lights is “a candle to each man and his house” (ner ish u’veito). No mention is made of lighting in shul. However, many...
Dec 10, 2009
By Asher Meir
![The Two Dreams of Chanukah](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Yosefs-Dreams-.jpg)
The Two Dreams of Chanukah
The story of Hanukkah is typical of all our confrontations in the Galut, the Diaspora. In aristocracy, each family has a coat of arms, an emblem. What was the emblem of...
Dec 9, 2009
By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
![Miracles and Dreidles](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Miracle-Sign.png)
Miracles and Dreidles
WHAT A MODEST, SPINNING TOP CAN TEACH US ABOUT MIRACLES We live in an age of miracles and wonder. Does that sound like a ridiculous statement to you – to characterize...
Dec 8, 2009
By Rabbi Eliyahu Safran
![Sukkot: The Lulav](https://www.ou.org/life/files/lulav_etrog_sets.jpg)
Sukkot: The Lulav
At Sukkot we fulfill the mitzva of taking the four species – etrog (citron), lulav (palm), hadas (myrtle) and arava (willow). While we must take all four kinds to fulfill the...
Oct 1, 2009
By Asher Meir
![Sukkot: A Sukkah Life](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Sukkah.jpg)
Sukkot: A Sukkah Life
For most, it remains an enigma. We say it; it seems like it fits – but one suspects that we are essentially clueless (an admitted projection) to its Sukkos significance. I...
Sep 30, 2009
By Rabbi Asher Brander
![Simchat Torah: The Secret of Our Eternity](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Vanishing.jpg)
Simchat Torah: The Secret of Our Eternity
Jews live in calendar dialectics, oscillating between two Jewish New Years (Tishrei/Nissan) and two Judgment Days (Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur). Perhaps the greatest Jewish storyteller of all time, the Dubner Maggid, (Rabbi...
Sep 30, 2009
By Rabbi Asher Brander
![The Nullity of Being; the Greatness of Being](https://www.ou.org/life/files/duality215.jpg)
The Nullity of Being; the Greatness of Being
A Meditation on Sin and Repentance At the core of man is duality. Some might suggest contradiction. Regardless of how it is characterized, man’s essential duality creates tension in his life....
Sep 24, 2009
By Rabbi Eliyahu Safran
![Ha’azinu: Repentance for a Doubtful Sin](https://www.ou.org/life/files/Doubt.jpg)
Ha’azinu: Repentance for a Doubtful Sin
The Rema writes that a doubtful sin requires more thorough repentance than a certain one. The reason he gives is that a person tends to be feel less remorse over a...
Sep 24, 2009
By Asher Meir
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