Destructive M’lachot?
The laws of guarding Shabbat guarantee that the Jewish people will maintain the Shabbat as a day sacred and distinct from the six work days of the week. The prohibited acts are known as…
Abraham Ibn Ezra
Biblical scholars study his Torah commentaries, poets read his verse, grammarians look to his linguistic work and a lunar crater is named in his honor. Meet Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn…
Possessed
The Exorcist, one of the most famous horror films ever created, is based on the terrifying concept of someone being possessed by the devil. And while the deeply evil devil of Christian…
Herman Wouk
Jews, called by many the “People of the Book,” have left a distinguished mark on the literary world. In the field of American literature, few Jewish authors have been as prolific, and…
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…
A Scholar and A Playwright
As the epicenter of the Renaissance, Italy was filled with great centers of learning and creativity during the middle centuries of the last millennium. In one of these great centers of…
Yente the Yiddish Writer
Yiddish literature entered its modern era in the 1860s, when Jewish writers began using the Germanic-Jewish language to compose stories and poems. Many of the early writers of this era…
Significance of the Mezuzah
Much of the inner meaning of the mezuzah is rooted in kabbalistic concepts and personal anecdotes. On the simplest level, the affixed mezuzah serves as a reminder of the Biblical message…
Yente the Yiddish Writer
Yiddish literature entered its modern era in the 1860s, when Jewish writers began using the Germanic-Jewish language to compose stories and poems. Many of the early writers of this era…
A National Poet
Chaim Nahman Bialik (born January 9, 1873) was an Israeli national icon who came to be recognized as one of Israel’s greatest national poets. Born in the Russian town of Radi, he was…