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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Night before day
Why did G-d start with night rather than day? Interesting the way you’ve asked your question. Many people ask why Jewish holidays start at nightfall, and the answer is your question – because the Torah tells us that first there…
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Basketball on Shabbos
Are you alowed to play basketball on shabbos? Assuming there is a kosher eruv, it isn’t technically forbidden, however, it isn’t in the spirit of shabbos to play ball. Rav Moshe Feinstein approved of the eruv in Kew Gardens Hills,…
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Translation of the Book of Ruth
Do you know of a translation of the Book of Ruth? My Hebrew is not good enough for me to read along when listening in the synagogue. Thank you I think this should do the trick nicely: The Metsudah Five…
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Wet Matzah
Why do some people not eat wet matzah? The answer is that they are afraid the flour in the matzah did not mix before baking with water and will now become chametz (leaven) when mixed with water.
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Passover Events
When we celebrate the Passover how does this correspond to the actual event of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt? (Ex: is the first day of this period when G-D told the Israelites to put the blood…
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Stubborness and Making Amends
I have a personal problem with a close relative that cannot be resolved. The other party is very stubborn, and now is the time for making amends. What should I do? As a friend recently said to me about divorce,…
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Plague of darkness
why does the Ibn Ezra (A classic Torah commentator) tell us that he experienced a similar kind of darkness as described in the plage- darkness. What lesson does this reinforce? From the wording of the Ibn Ezra (and from the…
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Can’t be home for Passover?
I am under the impression that in ancient times, if unable to be home for the holiday of Passover, there was an alternate date about a month later. True or False? Many ask if they can observe the “Second Passover”…
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Plague of the First Born
Why is the Plague of the First Born males referred to as “makas b’choros” (i.e. feminine form) since it was the first born Egyptian MALES who were killed? Everywhere in the Torah and I think in Tanach, the plural of…