Chanukah
Chanukah, the festival of lights, is a Rabbinic celebration that begins on 25 Kislev. Chanukah celebrates the miracle of the oil in the Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees’ defeat of the Greek army as well as the Jew’s freedom…
Jen (Rachel-Esther)
Jewish Literacy – Biblical Era: Creation (Part 2)
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) The Name of God used in this very first passage of the Torah does not use the personal Name of God (the tetragamatron – ה-ו-ה-י).1 Rashi explains that…
Jewish Literacy – Biblical Era: Creation (Part 1)
“‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’ (1:1). The first and most important fact established in the Bible’s opening chapter, indeed in its opening sentence, is that God, and God alone, created the world. This assertion represents…
Rashi on Parsha Noach
Genesis 6:9-10 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and wholehearted; Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Yaphet. Rashi states that the insertion of Noah’s…
Rashi on Parsha Bereishit
“‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’ (1:1). The first and most important fact established in the Bible’s opening chapter, indeed in its opening sentence, is that God, and God alone, created the world. This assertion represents…
Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah
Sukkot, the Harvest Festival, occurs on 15 Tishri (in September or October). The word Sukkot means booths, and refers to the temporary dwellings (sukkah) that we are commanded to live in during this holiday. Sukkot is also a harvest festival,…
Parsha Ha’azinu
This week’s parsha is Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy 32:1-52 Haazinu (32:1-52) – (Listen): Haftorah: II Samuel 22:1-51 (Ashkenazi); II Samuel 22:1-51 (Sephardi) 32:1-9: The Song of Moses 32:28-31: The enemy’s foolish conceit 32:10-14: God’s kindness to Israel 32:32-34: Source of Israel’s suffering…
Yom Kippur
The Biblical holiday of Yom Kippurim (also known as Yom Kippur) – Day of Atonement – is the last day of the High Holy Days. The fast of Yom Kippur begins at sundown on the ninth of Tishri and continues…
Parsha Vayeilech
This week’s parsha is Vayeilech: Deuteronomy 31:1-30 Vayeilech (31:1-30) – (Then He Went Out) 31:1-6: Moses takes leave 31:14-18: Moses’ end draws near 31:7-9: Joshua 31:19-23: The Torah as testimony 31:10-13: Torah to be read during Succot 31:24-30: Moses gathers…
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah falls on the first day of the Hebrew month Tishrei (although outside Israel it is celebrated for two days). The Torah calls Rosh Hashanah Yom HaZikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding…