Thank you to Attorney General Rob Bonta and Mayor Todd Gloria for inviting me to participate in this important roundtable conversation on behalf of Shiviti, Kehillat Shaar HaShamayim, and the entire Jewish community. Crimes motivated by hate are not just attacks on individual people – they are attacks on our communities and affect us all. […]
Author: Rabbi Yonatan Halevy
As Israeli civilians are once again under rocket attacks from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, we the undersigned, Sephardic rabbis representing communities all over the world, stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel. We support Israel’s right to defend her cities and civilians, and to assert her sovereignty over Jerusalem, the historic […]
Printed in Principles: Edition 2 – The Journal of The Ḥabura using their Standard Transliteration Guide An Israeli news reporter once interviewed a Hassidic rabbi about the secret of his community’s long-lasting marriages, in contrast to the general public’s seemingly higher divorce rate. The Rabbi explained: “In our community, husbands and wives take great care […]
It is an immense honor for me that The Ḥabura has given me the opportunity to publish my latest article “Divided We Stand: The Failed Experiment of “Mizug Galuyot”” in their esteemed journal, Principles (Edition 2). Under the leadership of my dear friend and colleague, Chief Rabbi Joseph Dweck shlit”a, and guided so wonderfully by […]
Since I heard the devastating news that took place on Shabbat with the loss of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, I have been scrambling to find a teaching of his that I can share with you that would summarize his greatness. I did not merit to know Rabbi Sacks personally. Though I feel that I knew […]
I just heard the tragic news that a giant of our generation, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, son of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, passed away. Baruch Dayan HaEmet. Though I did not merit to know him well, I wish to share a personal story, which I believe illustrates one of Rav Dovid’s most exemplary Middot – his Anavah, […]
It is rare for me to publicly recommend a book, but I had the honor of welcoming my dear friend Sina Kahen’s new book on Bereshit into my library and I cannot recommend it enough! Below, please find my words which were printed in the beginning of the book, as well as a free excerpt […]
אַל־תַּ֣עַן כְּ֖סִיל כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ פֶּֽן־תִּשְׁוֶה־לּ֥וֹ גַם־אָֽתָּה: Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest even you become like him. Mishle (Proverbs) 26:4 A response to a post by a member of our Shiviti Learning Forum on Facebook Shalom, I hesitated greatly before approving this post. But since you are not the only one to […]
“Men of faith have vanished – those who come with the strength of their good deeds, those strong enough to stand up to any breach and repel harsh decrees”(- Piyut for Selichot, Author Unkown) Today, the world lost a tremendous Torah sholar, Rabbi Dr. Yosef (José) Faur, of blessed memory. I have spent the last […]
“He who walks in the middle of the roads gets hit from both sides.” In light of our recent post concerning the danger of messianic elements which identify with Chabad, attacks followed from both sides: 1) Some – falsely and viciously – accused us of attacking an entire movement of our brothers and sisters, instead […]