The Great Hoshana (Hoshana Rabbah)
Rosh Hashana is known as the Day of Judgment (Yom Hadin), the day on which God judges the world. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the day on which God finalizes His verdict on the…
Bows and Arrows
Lag Ba'omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. Its observance commemorates the end of a tragic plague that took the lives of nearly…
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi), whose yahrtzeit is on Lag Ba’omer, was one the five students who began studying with Rabbi Akiva after the horrible plague that…
An Encyclopedic Work
When Rabbi Yaakov Culi arrived in Constantinople, Turkey, in 1714, he did not expect to find a Jewish community lacking Jewish knowledge. While the city was home to some of the great…
Bows and Arrows
Lag Ba'Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. Its observance commemorates the end of a tragic plague that took the lives of nearly…
What A Pretty Little
Appearances can be deceiving. Take little children, for instance. “What a pretty little girl” might be a misplaced compliment in many traditional communities where it is customary to…
Rabbi Shimon’s Favorite Tree
On Lag Ba’omer, Jews around the world honor the memory of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a student of Rabbi Akiva who delved into the esoteric meaning of the Torah. He taught what is…
The Ten Sephirot
Most people associate kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) with the Zohar (Book of Splendor). However, the earliest text to which the sages refer is Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation).* The exact…
The Great Hoshana (Hoshana Rabbah)
Rosh Hashana is known as the Day of Judgment (Yom Hadin), the day on which God judges the world. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the day on which God finalizes His verdict on the…
The Great Hoshana (Hoshana Rabbah)
Rosh Hashana is known as the Day of Judgment, the day on which God judges the world. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the day on which God finalizes His verdict on the judgments of…