Tag Archives: repentance

Teshuva is the Jewish way to pay our ‘sin taxes.’ Aveira is one of the Hebrew words for transgression. In my mind, it resonates with the English word, ‘over.’

For some 1,000 years, many Ashkenazi Jews have observed the same ritual every Yom Kippur Eve — waving a chicken over their head. From the start, the practice was controversial among rabbinical scholars, and even today, it continues to ruffle feathers. (Sorry, couldn't resist).

The sound of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah, the great 12th-century Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides wrote, is a wake-up call for the soul. Its message: "Arise from your slumber! Search your ways and return in teshuvah and remember your Creator!"

Why does the Talmud teach that the sin of dishonest weights and measures is worse than the sin of sexual transgression?