Development of the Haggadah
On Passover night we are commanded "v'hee'ga'd'ta" and you shall tell, the story of the Exodus. (Notice the shared root of hee'ga'd'ta and Haggadah.) The Passover Haggadah serves as a…
Let’s Hear Your Shpiel
Traditional Jewish life is rarely associated with theater or satire, but Purim is a time for turning things on their head. The Spiel (pronounced/also written: shpiel or schpiel), best…
The Portuguese Dreyfus
The deathbed confession by his grandfather of a secret Jewish identity had a profound and life-changing effect on Captain Artur Carlos de Barros Basta (1887 - 1961). He began to educate…
The Sixth Rebbe
Today, the 10th of Shevat, is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, who is also referred to as the Rayatz (an acronym of his name). Far…
Sheep Shearing
While giving charity appears to be one of the fundamental good deeds a person may perform, it is, in all honesty, one of the hardest. Our possessions, our wealth, our outward signs of…
The Development of the Haggadah
On Passover night we are commanded "v'hee'ga'd'ta" and you shall tell, the story of the Exodus. (Notice the shared root of hee'ga'd'ta and Haggadah.) The Passover…
One Book At A Time
Those who choose to go (or go back) to college at a more mature age will testify that it is not a simple decision. Beyond the financial and logistical considerations, many find the idea…
Baba Sali – Praying Father
Although it is not uncommon for Jewish sages to be known by a pseudonym, such names are most often either abbreviations of their full names (e.g. RaMBaM, an acronym for Rabbi Moses ben…
Development of the Haggadah
On Passover night we are commanded "v'hee'ga'd'ta" and you shall tell, the story of the Exodus. (Notice the shared root of hee'ga'd'ta and Haggadah.) The Passover…
The First Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel
When history books discuss immigration to the land of Israel at the beginning of the twentieth century, the waves of immigrants to which they refer were, for the most part, Ashkenazim…