Original Vegetarianism: Where’s The Beef?
Adam and Eve were vegetarians. When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, the Torah tells us that God said: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat…” (Genesis 2:16). While God…
The Chazon Ish
Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Chazon Ish, was considered to be one of the most important rabbinic voices in Europe and Israel in the period before World War II and its…
Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
While Jewish prayer has many aspects that are introspective, prayer is also designed to serve as a vehicle of communication with the Divine. The central focus of every prayer service is…
Sigd, The Ethiopian Holiday
While most of the Jews of Ethiopia–the Beta Israel, as the Ethiopian community is properly called, have made aliyah and rejoined the global Jewish community, they have their own unique…
The Story of Chanukah
Around the year 167 B.C.E., the Syrian-Greek rulers of Judea tried to force the Jews to assimilate into Hellenic culture. They summoned the Jews to the town squares where they were forced…
Special For Chanukah: The Chanukah Blessings
Tonight, on the first night of Chanukah, one candle/light is placed on the far right of the menorah. Each succeeding night, one candle/light is added to the left of the previous night’s…
The Chanukiyah
The term “menorah” is used for both the classic symbol of the holiday of Chanukah and the great seven-branched candelabra that was built in the wilderness following explicit Divine…
The Tenth of Tevet, Asarah b’Tevet
And it was in the ninth year of [King Zeddekiah’s] reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth (day) of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came, he and all his legions, upon…
My Father. Our Father
Many well-known Jewish songs are based on words from the Bible. While a vast majority of them are based on Tehillim (Psalms) one of the most famous is almost a direct quote from Genesis:…
Adopting Moses
In this week’s Torah portion, Shemot, Pharaoh issues his edict directing the Jewish midwives; “When you deliver the Hebrew women, and you see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you…