If you have been watching the night sky, perhaps you saw the first sliver of the new moon last week. In the Jewish world, we’re moon-watchers, because each new month begins on the new “moon-th.” In early Spring, or sometimes even late winter, we celebrate the New Moon of the Hebrew month called Adar, the month whose motto is: “With the month of Adar, Joy increases!” Why ?

On Erev Rosh HaShanah, Jews throughout the world come together to celebrate the New Year and embark on the high and holy work of the High Holidays.

I send you love and brachas for the New Year! May it be a year of prosperity, health, peace, abundance and renewed hope for the future.

Enjoy this teaching from my beloved rebbe, Reb Zalman:

Because it is before the High Holy Days I want to write about Binyan HaMalkhut  (literally: building the Kingdom)

On my shelf, I have a wild assortment of dreidls. After all, it is rare that any mitzvah that can be artistic remains unembellished. I have jars of plastic dreidls of all colors, dreidls of silver filigree, dreidls carved of olivewood, ones made of clay, and even one tiny dreidl – easily a hundred years old – made of "oferet yetzukah" – pressed lead.