What Do You Call The Seventh Day?
What do you call the Seventh Day, the Day of Rest? Some people call it “Shabbat” and greet their friends and neighbors with a hearty “Shabbat Shalom.” Others refer to it as “Shabbos” and…
Connecting Words
According to the internet’s fun holiday websites, January 18th is Thesaurus Day. The date is in honor of the creator of the first modern thesaurus, [Peter Mark] Roget’s Thesaurus. A…
Spin the Dreidel
I have a little dreidelI made it out of clayAnd when it’s dry and readyWith dreidel I shall play! The dreidel is a four sided top, with a single Hebrew letter on each of its sides. Before…
Lancaster Jews
Many people do not realize that Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home to the famous Amish community, was one of the few active Jewish communities during the colonial era and has the fourth oldest…
What’s in the Book: Joshua
The Book of Joshua (Yehoshua) is the first of the ten books known as Nevi'im, the Books of the Prophets. It begins after Moses’ death, when Joshua bin Nun assumed the leadership of…
Proverbial Path
In the Book of Proverbs it is written: “A person’s heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (ibid. 16:9). This is, perhaps, the origin of the common phrase, “Man plans, God…
Noah 5777-2016
“Why was the World Destroyed by a Flood?” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Noah, features the destruction of the world at G-d's hands, by a massive flood that…
What Is Isru Chag?
The day after vacation is often a time of distraction and disorientation. The same is true of the day following a religious holiday, especially after one of the week-long holidays…
Bereshith 5777-2016
“The Decline and Fall of Humankind” by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald With this week’s parasha, parashat Bereshith, we begin, once again, to read the first of the Five Books of Moses--the Book of…
Selichot
In addition to the unique prayer services of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the High Holidays are known for one other service: selichot. A collection of religious poems and…