Holidays

Olives and Oil During these days of Chanuka, everybody is talking about the miracle of the Menorah and the jug of shemen zayit zach (pure...

Article abstract: In the Torah portion Miketz, the word "חכם" (wise) appears for the first time in Scripture - used by Pharaoh to...

Playing with Fire When telling of the future downfall of the descendants of Esau, the prophet Ovadiah (Obadiah 1:18) refers to the House...

Article abstract for Parashat Terumah: This week's Parashah acutely delineates the makeup and measurements of the Tabernacle and its...

This week ushers in the month of Adar in all its glory. Like all the months of the Jewish calendar, the name Adar is derived from the...

When Esav found out that the blessing from his father Yitzchak had been given to Yaakov, Esav “cried out a great and bitter cry” (Genesis...

This Shabbat we read Parshat HaChodesh, the last of four special Torah readings before Pesach. Parshat HaChodesh establishes Nissan as...

The end of Leviticus speaks about different forms of redemption in the legal sense. It mentions the rights — or even commandments — of...

This week's Torah portion discusses the highly unusual opportunity to fulfil a biblical precept -the Passover offering- who's...

Shelach: Pardon Me? לע“נשלמהבנימיןבןרפאלתנצב“ה Three words are used to generally describe forgiveness and atonement: סליחה, מחילה, כפרה....

Long before the fidget spinner became the world’s favorite pastime, Jewish children played with spinning tops on the holiday of Chanuka....

Chanukahחַנֻכָּה Chinuch and Chanukah, Walking with Hashem חִנוּךְ: beginning חַנוֹךְ: Chanoch חִנוּךְ: education חַנֻכָּה: Chanukah...

Throughout the Yom Kippur services we repeatedly confess our sins and beg for forgiveness. In doing so, we mimic the confessionals of...

The fifth plague that G-d had wrought upon the Egyptians is known as dever. In English this word is commonly translated as “pestilence”,...

The Mishnah teaches that on Rosh Hashana all the inhabitants of the world pass before G-d like the animals of a corral, and G-d passes...

Sukkot: Gog’s Impervious Roof Versus Israel’s Flimsy Thatched Sukkah (The following is in the main an adaptation of Rabbi S. R. Hirsch’s...

The Talmud(1) states: למה תוקעין ומריעין כשהן יושבין, ותוקעין ומריעין כשהן עומדין? כדי  לערבב השטן. Why (do the Jews) blow the shofar...

The Festival of Shavuot is known under many different names. Although these names are all synonyms for the holiday, each name focuses on...

The Hebrew name for the holiday of Passover is Pesach. The Paschal Sacrifice with which the holiday is associated is likewise known as...

We are all probably familiar with the name of the site of the greatest mass revelation of G-d’s existence — Mount Sinai. However,...

Shavuos שָׁבֻעוֹת Preparing for Kabbalas HaTorah כִּלָה: finish, complete כְּלִי: receiving vessel תַּכְלִית: purpose תְּכֵלֶת:...

We are all probably familiar with the name of the site of the greatest mass revelation of G-d’s existence—Mount Sinai. However,...

On Lag B’Omer, Jews all over the world celebrate Rashbi’s hillula. Rashbi, of course, is an acronym for the Tannaic sage, Rabbi...

פֶּלֶא: wonder נְפִילָה: falling פִּיל: elephant תְּפִילָה: prayer הִפְלָה: separate, distinctive פֶּלֶא: Wonder There are foolish people...

We mentioned in Part 1 that the Hebrew name for the holiday of Passover is Pesach and the sacrifice associated with that holiday is...

On the Seventh Day of Passover, we read one of the most captivating stories in the entire Bible: the splitting of the sea. After the...

Yehoshua Steinberg I. Merciful Skipping שמ’ יב:יג – וראיתי את הדם ופסחתי עלכם. Ex. 12:13 – I will see the blood and pass over you. מכילתא...

Geula: emancipation or Expulsion? I. You Can Take Slaves out of the country, but… The Zohar Chadash tells of two types of salvation in...

The Holiday of Passover, when the Jewish People were emancipated from slavery in Egypt, is described in our liturgy as Zman Cheiruteinu,...

Merciful Skipping שמ’ יב:יג – וראיתי את הדם ופסחתי עלכם. Ex. 12:13 – I will see the blood and pass over you. מכילתא (בא פרשה ז): וראיתי...

You Can Take Slaves out of the country, but… The Zohar Chadash tells of two types of salvation in Egypt: זוהר חדש (פ’ יתרו, דף נב.): אני...

Purim טֶבַע: nature מַטְבֵּעַ: coin לִטְבּוֹעַ: to drown, sink טַבַּעַת: ring טֶבַע: Nature If you have ever witnessed a total solar...

Each of the three meals that we eat on Shabbat (Tractate Shabbat 117b) is called a seudah. On Purim we also have a festive meal, but that...

The eighth of ten plagues which G-d brought upon the Egyptians in the lead-up to the Exodus was the Plague of Arbeh — locust. Locust is...