Pidyon Ha’ben – Redeeming the Firstborn
“You must redeem the firstborn of a person…when he is one month old, for the value of five silver shekels” (Numbers 18:15-16). God sanctified the firstborn male Israelites when He…
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…
Start Planning Gelt
Stock up on oil or candles and prepare your menorah, dreidels and gelt, Yiddish for coins, in anticipation of the upcoming holiday of Chanukah that begins on Sunday evening, December…
Joseph, Son of Jacob
The story of Jacob’s eleventh son is a tale of epic proportion. The firstborn of barren Rachel, Joseph was his father’s favorite child, and Jacob never hesitated to display his feelings…
From Dreamer to Viceroy
Study the incredible story of Joseph, the young dreamer, one of the most famous biblical personalities, who went from interpreting dreams in prison to becoming the Viceroy of Egypt. There…
These Lights We Kindle
While the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is an outward-focused mitzvah – the menorah is lit in a window or doorway – it is also an opportunity for personal reflection on the deeper…
Can You Be The Tenth?
That the Hebrew word “minyan” derives from the infinitive “lim’not,” to count or number, is not at all surprising. A minyan is a quorum of 10, the smallest number necessary to create a…
Natural Born Athlete
In the world of sports, Bobbie Rosenfeld had, what a person might call, the “magic touch.” As it was once noted: “The most efficient way to summarize Bobbie Rosenfeld’s career…is to say…
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…
Insights into the Burning Bush
The release several years ago of the motion picture Exodus: Gods and Kings is one in a long line of dramatic recreations of Biblical narratives. Such dramas have been attempted long…