Rosh Chodesh

We are heading toward Rosh Chodesh Sivan. The Mashgiach, Rav Moshe Wolfson zt"l, teaches that the first few days of Sivan are powerful and holy days. Klal Yisrael arrived at Sinai on the first of the month, ביום הזה. The Torah doesn't say ביום ההוא, on that day, but rather hazeh, on this day. Each and every year again we arrive at our own internal Har Sinai. The Torah says ויסעו מרפידים ויבואו מדבר סיני - They traveled from Refidim, which symbolizes their weakness in Torah,

It’s Rosh Chodesh Iyyar. We’re starting to (maybe) recover from Pesach and all that it entailed in each one of our personal lives. We’re wishing to make space for the avoda of Sefiras Haomer. As the inner secrets of Torah become more well known, our attitude toward sefirah has changed. In the past sefirah meant to work on bein adam l’chaveiro, as the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva passed away because of their lack of respect for one another. (And we shouldn’t forget that. Any perso

It's Rosh Chodesh Nissan. To me, it feels like a lifetime from Rosh Chodesh Adar. It's hard to believe that only a month has passed. A month that was fraught with stress, overwhelming with uncertainty and exhilarating with miracles. It's been a long month of Adar. And now we're up to Nissan. חודש שישועות בו מקיפות - A month in which salvations are abundant. We need to stand ready, open, prepared to receive the salvations. 'התיצבו וראו את ישועת ה - Stand ready to witness the

It's Rosh Chodesh Adar. Purim is an interesting time. In the megila it says that it was designated for future years as a yom tov. But we know a yom tov as a day that the melachos are not allowed. So why are melachos allowed on Purim? The halachic basis is that Purim was declared by Rabbanim and therefore is not as strong a Yom Tov was the ones written in the Torah. But there's another reason. Purim is a holiday in which we celebrate Hashem being brought into the hidden places

It's Rosh Chodesh Shvat. When we think of Shvat, we think of Tu B'shvat and trees and growth. But all we see around us is the cold, the darkness, the winter. We remember that sap beginning to rise in the cold of the winter, despite no one seeing the blossoming. We remember that we, too, our growing, as long as we're trying, even if the transformation is not yet obvious. We try so hard! We work on ourselves, learn, daven, grow. We pick ourselves up time and again. And we don'

It's Rosh Chodesh Teves? What in the world does Teves have to do with us in the middle of our Chanukah parties, Chanukah mess, Chanukah lights and Chanukah songs? A lot. Chanukah is for singing songs of gratitude and joy for the miracles that we merited. It is a time of deep light, both on a surface level and on a deep intimate level. It is a time to celebrate the glow of the blessings of our life. And what about when it's dark? What about when there is no Chanukah parties an

It's Rosh Chodesh Kislev. A month of light, a month of hope, a month of miracles. Also a month of darkness, of cold, of short days and long nights. We say in Al Hanissim: Bayamim haheim, ba'zman hazeh - in those days, at this time. There is a power of the month that comes down every month. Specifically the month of kislev where we specify it. It is a long month of darkness, it is a month leading to light and miracles. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a gradual process that

As we wrap up an uplifting Elul and Tishrei, I want to pause and publicly thank Hashem for such an incredible gift of this beautiful start to our new year. And I want to thank you for being part of this journey with me. Whether you joined the classes, read the emails, or followed your own path of growth, I truly believe that our shared efforts create sparks of inspiration and hope for all of us And so, thank you for doing your part! We began with a Tehillim email on L'David H

I know that you have been waiting for my email. Some of you have even reached out to me, asking where it is. Elul has become synonymous with Write Your Way Home, because Elul touches me so deeply. Anyone who is part of this community is here because they want to grow. And there is no greater time to grow, transform, and harness all the extra help that Hashem is offering us, than in the month of Elul. It's that permission to connect to ourselves, to our desire to grow, to our

Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av is coming this Shabbos. Think about it - the month that contains our greatest tragedy, that is our saddest, most painful month - is called Menachem Av - A Comforting Father. The theme of the month is a loving father consoling his beloved children after a devastating loss. The comfort is embedded in the pain. Rav Tzadok Hakohen wrote that the Gemara (Pesachim 77a) says that Rosh Chodesh is called a mo'ed and bases it on Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av. This R

It's Rosh Chodesh Tamuz. It's been a very long and incredibly challenging two weeks and we wanted to be greeted by Mashiach, or at least something else amazingly happy and joy-filling. We want a Purim, a Chanukah, a yom tov of singing and dancing. We're a bit caught off guard to be greeting Rosh Chodesh Tamuz, the three weeks, the nine days. We're drained at a very deep level. So, let's look at a deeper message of Tamuz. Each of the twelve months correspond to each of the tw

Rosh Chodesh Sivan is here and that means Shavuos is coming. Shavuos is coming and that means preparing, cooking, baking, and more. But it also means preparing ourselves from the inside. Shavuos is called Zman Matan Toraseinu, the time that Hashem is giving the Torah. At Matan Torah, Hashem didn't start with Bereishis and the story of creation. Hashem started with Anochi Hashem Elokecha, to tell us that Torah is Hashem! Hashem is saying “Torah is Me!” The Gemara in שבת מסכ

Rosh Chodesh Iyar is here! Many of us are trying to find our footing after a long Pesach season and at the same time, want to put in our effort to tap into the tremendous koach of sefirah days. It can be very overwhelming. We all have so much to do and yet wish we could include growth on our to-do list, too! I have a thought I want to share with you. There is a common question asked why we count 'hayom yom echad la'omer' - day one of the omer, day two of the omer etc, rather

Ready or not… Rosh Chodesh Nissan is coming! Believe it or not, it’s something to be excited about. החודש הזה יהיה לכם ראש חדשים – “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the moths; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you.” (Shemos 12:24) This month is the beginning of all wonderful things happening. It is the head, it is the leader, is the one that will bring you to every blessing you wish for in your life. In the hagadda we say: "יכול מראש חודש? תלמו

It’s Rosh Chodesh Adar. I think that we are more than ready for another Purim story this year. For a wonderous miracle in which our horrible enemies get destroyed in one incredible day, where their insidious plans boomerang and indite themselves, where our holy sages become the leaders of the land and peace reigns once again. We are not only ready, we are desperate. But I wonder. Do you know what happened before the miracle? Esther called all of Klal Yisrael to three days of

It's Rosh Chodesh Shevat. When we think of Shevat of sap under the earth and of leaves beginning to sprout above. We think of trees and growth. We can think of ourselves. Growth is natural to Klal Yisrael. Growth is even more natural to women. Women are inherently developing, transforming, and growing and blossoming. There has been a shift in our society toward us women healing with the drive, determination and ambition that is naturally inherent to men. Men were created to g

With Hashem's help, I try to send out an email every Rosh Chodesh. But when I sat down to write it, I felt confused. It's Rosh Chodesh Teves, again a new start of something, but we're deep into Chanukah! I don't want to shift gears to something new now. The good news is that we don't have to. Every Rosh Chodesh we say an incomplete Hallel. There are two exceptions. On Rosh Chodesh Tishrei we don't say Hallel at all, (the books of life and death are open, how can we say Hallel

We have entered the month of Kislev. The mazal of Kislev is a keshes, a rainbow. A rainbow is formed when pure white light refracts into seven shades. Red is nearest the original beam, and violet is the furthest away from the pure white light. But all the colors - red, yellow, orange, green, etc. - are really just an expression of the same light, just seeming different to us based on how it's expressed. Our life is the same. We all have different colors in our lives, differen

Rosh Chodesh Chesvan is arriving. For many women, it is a relief when Cheshvan comes. Finally, some routine! Summer vacation and Yamim Tovim are great (or not!), but it is a relief for most people to get back to a predictable routine. We have had the intense work and intense growth of Elul. We had the intense work and intense growth of Tishrei. And now comes Cheshvan, and Cheshvan is about processing, absorbing, and intergrating all that we have grown. Klal Yisrael worked rea