The Calendar and Holidays (incl. Sabbath)
- Chanukah
- Other Holidays and Fasts
- Passover
- Purim
- Rosh HaShanah
- Shavuos
- Sukkos
- The Jewish Calendar
- The Sabbath
- Yom Kippur
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How to Make Kiddush on Friday Night
Can you please tell me where the Kiddush comes from and a little about its background as like who started it and why, and maybe some tips on what do I do and what do I not do when making…
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The Feet and the Shoe of Boaz
Why did Ruth uncover Boaz’s feet (Ruth 3:4)? What is the significance of taking off the sandal (Ruth 4:7-8)? Boaz had intimated that he intended to marry Ruth. Now he needed to either do so, or make it clear that…
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Ruth’s Conversion and Levirate Marriage
The Rashi commentary on Ruth (1:12) writes that Ruth converted after her husband died. How could there be a concept of Yibum (Levirate marriage) later on in the story when marriage to a non-Jew does not establish a bond that…
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The Approximate Calendar
Why was the Jewish year 5765 (2004-5) a leap year? I thought an extra month was added to prevent Passover from falling before the vernal equinox. But had an extra month not been added that year, Passover would have fallen…
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Omer Mourning Period
What is the Omer mourning period? The “Omer” period is the national mourning period between Passover and Shavuot which commemortaes the death of 24,000 Torah Scholars who were the students of Rabbi Akiva just around the Beginning of the Common…
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Nisan and the New Year
If the first month of the Hebrew calendar is Nisan, why is Rosh Hashanah, which I understand to be the New Year, observed during the month of Tishri? Good question. Nissan is the first month because that’s when the Exodus…
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The First Passover Seder
When was the first Passover Seder? How many years ago did we leave Egypt? We left Egypt 3319 years ago, which is year 2448 in the Jewish calender, 1312 BCE in the non Jewish one. That was the year of…
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Karpas and the Bitter Herb
Why are there two things at the Passover Seder to symbolize our slavery in Egypt? We have the Karpas (Vegetable dipped in salt water) and the Bitter Herb, not to mention the Haggadah itself which talks about Egypt. Shouldn’t just…