No Cheeseburgers
Why don’t Jews eat meat and milk together? Because the Torah says: “Do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (Lo t'vashail g'di ba'cha'laiv eemo.) To the modern Jew, however,…
Fear Your Mother?
"Honor your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12) is the fifth of the Ten Commandments. It is at the very heart of Judaism and is a mitzvah that straddles the twin aspects of Judaism:…
Time of Freedom?
The sages refer to the holiday of Passover as zman chay’roo’tay’noo, the time of our freedom. This may seem obvious, since Passover celebrates the redemption of the Jewish people from…
There’s A Key In My Challah
It's a fact that many people spend much time thinking and even worrying about par'nassah (livelihood).Jewish tradition teaches that different seasons have different spiritual…
Can You Count To 49?
There is a commandment (Leviticus 23:15) to count the 49 days that immediately follow the first night of Passover and, on the 50th night, to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot. This period…
Searching For Chametz
On Passover, Jews are commanded to get rid of all "chametz" (leaven) which may be in their possession. Weeks are spent cleaning and scrubbing. To confirm the effectiveness of these…
Oh My Gosh! Passover Is Coming!
The intensive physical and emotional preparations for Passover come from one seemingly simple commandment: "Seven days you will eat only matzah, but on the first day you shall have put…
Hester Panim
One might think that the Book of Esther is a heroic tale about Mordechai and Esther saving the Jewish people through diplomatic skill, after all God is not mentioned once in the entire…
Who Was Mordechai?
There are some people in this world who always seem to be right in the thick of the action. As described in the Book of Esther, this was Mordechai. It is Mordechai’s niece who is chosen…
Waiting For Ice Cream
According to the Talmudic sage Mar Ukva, his father waited an entire day between eating meat and eating dairy in order to avoid transgressing the prohibition of eating milk and meat…