Introduction to Chanuka Chanuka commemorates the miracle of God’s saving the Jews during the time of the Greek empire. The Greeks wanted to destroy Judaism and Jewish practices and have the Jews follow the Greek culture and religion. A small group of Jews defeated the Greek army, which was the world’s greatest military force at […]

Lulav: If First Day of Sukkot Is Shabbat You do not need to buy a fancy or expensive lulav and etrog if the first day of Sukkot is Shabbat, since the Torah requirement for the Etrog to be beautiful is only on the first day of Sukkot. Palm Branch Sizes Minimum length for lulav (palm […]

Asking Forgiveness If you know you have offended or otherwise injured someone, ask for forgiveness before Yom Kippur (if doing so will bring up bad feelings from the past, you may not do so–but you might not be forgiven for that injury). If you may have offended, ask for forgiveness. If you are certain that […]

Introduction Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the Jewish calendar year (there are three other dates that begin other aspects of the Jewish year). Rosh Hashana is observed for two days, which are considered to be one continuous day. In Temple times, a Kohen would offer a sacrifice but might not know until the following […]

Three Weeks: Three Stages of Mourning Before Tish’a b’Av we are in a type of mourning so the laws are similar to mourning for a parent. There are three stages: The “Three Weeks”: The least severe stage starts three weeks preceding the Ninth of Av The “Nine Days”: The next-most severe stage begins on Rosh […]

Principles It is praiseworthy to tell the story of Passover even if you know all the details and interpretations (as did the great rabbis of the Talmud), because of the principle of “in order to remember” (lema’an tizkor): that we should remember everything God did for us when taking us out of Egypt. The Three […]