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Jonathan Muskat

Jonathan Muskat

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

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Message to our graduates

Graduation season is underway! Graduation is a significant achievement that is valuable in a very practical way. Not only does it provide a sense of...

previous day 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Value of the Celebrate Israel Parade – Good Vibes!

This coming Sunday, I will march with my school at the Celebrate Israel Parade in Manhattan. This is probably the world’s largest expression of...

01.06.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Experience of Tikun Layl Shavuot

Every Jewish holiday has its complication. On Yom Kippur, I’m starving. On Sukkot, I must eat outside in the cold. On Pesach, I get indigestion from...

25.05.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Rav Rimon, Noa Kirel and Balancing Orthodoxy with Moral Sensitivities

Rav Yoni Rosensweig is the rabbi of the Netzach Menashe community in Beit Shemesh and the founder of Maaglei Nefesh, an institute addressing mental...

18.05.2023 30

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Value of the English Monarch

This past Shabbat, King Charles III was crowned during a festive and religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey. More than 20 million people in the...

09.05.2023 30

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Brain Death Controversy in Light of Recent Events

Yesterday, I choked up watching a very moving video that went viral. It was a video of the Dee family meeting the patients whose lives were saved by...

04.05.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Memory of Yom Hazikaron

Living in America, I cannot help being struck by the stark contrast between Yom Hazikaron in America and Yom Hazikaron in Israel. Yom Hazikaron in...

25.04.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Women’s Torah Study at Yeshiva University

The decision to cancel three Talmud courses on Yeshiva University’s Beren campus (for women) next year due to lack of interest has sparked...

19.04.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Sale of Chametz and Halachic Loopholes

Every erev Pesach, for the past ten years, I have been selling chametz belonging to my shul members to Alicia Martinez, our shul caretaker. Every...

05.04.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The In-Person Arrangement to Sell Chametz: Is it Necessary?

Rabbis are very busy during this time of year. We are involved in preparing our Shabbat Hagadol drasha , shiurim and drashot for Pesach and...

29.03.2023 5

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Match Day at Einstein Medical Center

I have never experienced anything like this. Last Friday, my wife, three of my children, my daughter-in-law, one son-in-law, three grandchildren and I...

23.03.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Good Way and the Better Way to Defeat Anger

A few weeks ago, I met someone who told me that he had an anger problem and he was working on controlling his anger. Now the Torah takes a strong...

17.03.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Secular Holiness of Purim

Beyond the masks and the parties and the revelry, the holiday of Purim has a unique message about God’s love for us. We can uncover this message by...

06.03.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Judicial Reforms, Response to Terror and Whataboutism

Whataboutism is an argumentative tactic where a person or group responds to an accusation or difficult question. Instead of addressing the point made,...

28.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Secret to the Happiness of Adar

What’s not to love about the month of Adar? After all, aren’t we obsessed with finding happiness? Don’t we live in a happiness-seeking culture?...

22.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Controversial Call at the End of the Super Bowl: Taking Responsibility

This year’s Super Bowl was an exciting game to watch, but I was disappointed with the ending. The teams were tied at the score of 35 with about 90...

15.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Turning the Routine of Nach Yomi and Daf Yomi into a Ritual

How do we turn our routines into rituals? We are fortunate to have a group of men and women in our community who study daf yomi, a page of gemara each...

10.02.2023 7

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Rejoicing at the downfall of our enemies – a never-ending struggle

Our Jewish community is reeling from the latest attacks in Israel this past Shabbat. The first attack on Friday outside a shul claimed the lives of...

02.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Nazir: Enthusiastic Approval or Reluctant Acceptance?

As we begin studying Masechet Nazir in the daf yomi cycle this week, many of us are confronted with the very basic question of the Torah’s stance on...

27.01.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Reflections on the passing of Rabbi Moshe Kahn, trailblazer in Women’s Talmud Torah

I never met Rav Moshe Kahn, but I feel a tremendous sense of loss by his passing. My daughter, Elisheva, had the fortune of being in his shiur every...

19.01.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Praying for the State of Israel if you don’t like the government

I read an article in the Forward that Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky, rabbi of Ansche Chesed, a Conservative synagogue in the Upper West Side, plans to stop...

11.01.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Praising Those Outside Our Camp in Complicated Situations

I have a lot of respect for Yeshivat Har Etzion and its rabbinic leadership these days. (And, no, I never attended that Yeshiva.) The religious...

06.01.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

In 2023, We Need Rabbi Akiva Much More Than Hillel

As I reflect upon 2022, I feel that I have experienced a year when there has been ever-increasing polarization, animosity and vitriol in our society...

30.12.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Why wait a year to establish the holiday of Chanukah?

On the surface, it seems that our generation can relate very well to the holiday of Chanuka. After all, Chanuka is the holiday when we defeated those...

20.12.2022 5

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

No, Ben, the OU is Not Nervous and YU is Not Clumsy

Ben Shapiro recently wrote an article asserting that Modern Orthodoxy is in crisis because its leadership is not standing up to Torah values in its...

16.12.2022 30

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

The Power and Responsibility of the Kippah

This past week, I received the following voice message, “Hello. My name is ________. I live in Oceanside. I was driving on Long Beach Road yesterday...

07.12.2022 7

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Balancing Joy and Discomfort in Jewish Education

The secret to a strong Jewish education is to find the right balance between joy and discomfort. On the one hand, we want our children to be happy in...

01.12.2022 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

Three Ways to Maximize the Impact of Thanksgiving

I frequently ask myself the same question almost every holiday. Will it last? Will the lessons that I learned during this holiday leave a lasting...

23.11.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Jonathan Muskat

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