Holiday Greetings
The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” ("May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly…
The Princes of Captivity
When the First Temple was destroyed., most of the Jews in Israel were exiled to Babylon. Even when the Jews were allowed to return, only about 40,000 Jews returned to the Holy Land. When…
Holiday Greetings
The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” ("May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly…
Holiday Greetings
The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” ("May you…
Right Foot First
Some people might find it surprising that the sages discussed certain “best practices” for getting dressed. For instance, the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, an abridged compendium of the laws…
Holiday Greetings
The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova”("May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly books…
Holiday Greetings
The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” ("May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly books that…
A Case of Gout
The Jewish view on healing is that while all healing is in God’s power, the Almighty works His will through human hands. This being the case, it is interesting to note the tone of rebuke…
Tziporah and Elisheva
“Behind every great man...” So who were the women who gave their support to Moses and Aaron, the leaders of the Jewish people? Tziporah, Moses’ wife, was one of the seven daughters of…
The Eyes Have It
January is Eye Care Month! Close to 2,000 years ago, the importance of treating even basic eye disease was recorded in the Talmud (Shabbat 108b), where the rabbis debate what one may do…