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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The Jewish Holidays
Why don't the Jewish holidays occur on the same secular dates every year? The Jewish year is usually 12 lunar months long, but 12 lunar months add up to only 354 days. To keep the Jewish year in step with…
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Kallah Months
What is a "Kallah month"? It refers to a practice in the Babylonian Yeshivos, when large groups of students attended special intensive study sessions during the months of Adar and Ellul.
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The Haggadah
How old is the Haggadah? The Haggadah has had close to its present form for at least 2000 years; large parts of it are quoted in the Mishnah. The first seder was held in Egypt, just before the Exodus.
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The Seder and the Haggadah
What is the Seder? What is the Haggadah? The Seder has two origins: The festive meal at which the Passover sacrifice was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Ex.12:8), and the requirement to tell children the story of the…
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Charoses
Where do we get the recipe for Charoses? The Tur (Sec.473) says that the ingredients of Charoses are things mentioned in the Song of Songs; these things include apples, nuts, and wine.
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Moses in the Haggadah
Why is Moses' name hardly mentioned in the Haggadah? Moses' arguments with Pharaoh, and his bringing all the plagues on the Egyptians, didn't result in the Exodus until G-d Himself stepped in and smote the firstborn. As the Haggadah emphasizes,…
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The Days of the Week
What do the Jews call the days of the week? The days of the Jewish week have no names; they are referred to as "first day", "second day", …, "sixth day", and "Sabbath", i.e. basically following the usage in Gen.Ch.1.
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Two beginnings to the Jewish Year?
Why was the jewish year change from the way God had it, begining in spring to the way it is now? In the the book of Exodus 12 speaks about where God spoke about the begining of the year and…
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List of Holy Days
Besides the Sabbath, on which days of the year is creative work forbidden? The Holy days when creative work is forbidden are: Pesach – Festival of Passover – the 15th of Nissan and the 21st of Nissan (7th day of…