Judaica - Religious Articles, Judaism

Kippah: A Blessing On Your Head
Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:44:17 +0000
by Rabbi Shraga Simmons It is perhaps the most instantly identifiable mark of a Jew. When and why do we wear a kippah? It is perhaps the most instantly identifiable mark of a Jew. In the Western world, it is customary to remove one’s head covering when meeting an important person. In Judaism, putting on a head covering [...]

Why Do We Wear a Kippah?
Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:13:49 +0000
By Baruch S. Davidson Question: Is the kippah a symbolic reminder intended to prevent assimilation, or is the kippah a biblical obligation like the tzitzit? Answer: The tradition to wear a kippah is not derived from any biblical passage. Rather, it is a custom which evolved as a sign of our recognition that there is Someone “above” us who [...]

Why do the Jews wear yarmulkes (kippot)?
Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:37:24 +0000
Yarmulkes (or Kippot) are head-coverings, also known as beanies. One who wears a Yarmulke is in effect saying that reality does not begin with me—there is something above, a Higher Power. Hence its name, “yarmulke,” which is a contraction of “yarei malka,” which means awe of the King. It is a symbol of humility and [...]

Tu B’Shvat - 15th Day of Shvat
Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:28:53 +0000
The 15th day of the month of Shvat marks the beginning of the “new year” for trees.Tu B’Shvat is the new year for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing. The Torah states that fruit from trees which were grown in the land of Israel may not be eaten during the first [...]

Purim is a Lot of Fun When You are Prepared
Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:11:11 +0000
Been there, done that. When you don’t plan for Purim well enough in advance, Purim can feel like a disaster. Purim is only 1-2 days but it can feel like an entire month due to the amount of preparation and the actual schedule of the holiday. There is a lot to do in a little bit of [...]

When to Light the Menorah
Fri, 07 Dec 2007 07:42:45 +0000
By Eliyahu Kitov The Chanukah lights (Menorah) should be lit when the stars appear. If one did not light then, one may still light through the remainder of the night, provided that the members of the household are still awake. If one was inadvertently unable to light the Chanukah lights until very late – when everyone [...]

How long do tefillin last?
Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:02:53 +0000
by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg The scrolls inside the Tefillin will decay with age if not used on a regular basis. Therefore, tefillin which have been stored without use for an extended period must be inspected by a competent scribe twice every seven years. Tefillin which are used regularly (good for you!) technically do not have to be [...]

Why do people give money gifts on Chanukah?
Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:19:36 +0000
by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg Do you really need an excuse to give gifts! Well for those of you who are too frugal to give gifts for no good reason whatsoever… here goes:The word “Chanukah” comes from the same word as “chinuch (education).” The Greeks wanted to make us forget the holy Torah, thus when they were [...]

Some Hanukkah Songs
Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:15:15 +0000
I Have a Little Dreidel I have a little dreidel I made it out of clay And when it’s dry and ready Then dreidel I shall play! (Chorus) Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel I made it out of clay And when it’s dry and ready Then dreidel I shall play! It has a lovely body With legs so short and thin And when my dreidel’s tired It drops and [...]

Silver Judaica - Pure Sacred Objects
Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:59:45 +0000
Beautiful handcrafted vases, wine decanters and candle holders all with an antique finish, and prices can be quite high, wondering why? This is because antique Judaica is expensive but replicas sell like hot cakes all over the world. Although Judaica is made in gold, silver and bronze, copper with an inlay of precious stones, pure silver [...]

Sabbath (Perfect Paperback)
By Bonnie Saul Wilks

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The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire (Hardcover)
By James Benjamin Loeffler

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Those Who Dare (Hardcover)
By Phil Ward

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Matzoh Balls and Baseballs (Paperback)
By Dave Cohen

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Mrs. Moskowitz and the Sabbath Candlesticks (Hardcover)
By Amy Schwartz

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---And you shall tell your son: Jewish customs and ceremonies in Hungary (Hardcover)
By Tamás Féner

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Christians United for Israel : CUFI Overview DVD
By John Hagee Ministries

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Castles My Father Built (Paperback)
By Karen M. Cohen

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Mazel Tov Photo Keepsake Box (8" X 6.5" X 3") (Electronics)
By Keepsakes to Remember

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Woke Up Alive (DVD)
By Yossi Leshem

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The Pomegranate Pendant (Kindle Edition)
By Dvora Waysman

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Peony: A Novel of China (Paperback)
By Pearl S. Buck

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Aviya's Summer (DVD)
By Gila Almagor

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From Toledo to Jerusalem: A Musical Journey Through 500 Years of Sephardic Life (DVD)
By Yoram Gaon

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Under a Red Sky: Memoir of a Childhood in Communist Romania (Hardcover)
By Haya Leah Molnar

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Bar Mitzvah - Reflections & Remembrances (Hardcover)
By James Sanders

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Jewish Book of Why - Boxed Set with The Jewish Book of Why and The Second Jewish book of Why (Hardcover)
By Alfred J. Kolatch

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The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories (Hardcover)
By Ilan Stavans

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The Last Jews In Berlin. (Paperback)
By Leonard Gross

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Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books (Hardcover)
By Aaron Lansky

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This week Orthodox Rabbi Ari Enkin answers a question from an About reader with questions about the Jewish status of his daughter.

Q. My wife was adopted as a baby and the religion of her birth mother was unknown. The family who adopted her was Jewish, had a naming ceremony performed, and sent her to an Orthodox Hebrew school. However, we don't have any documents to show if she was formally converted. Now my daughter is ready to get married and her prospective fiance's family is questioning whether or not my daughter is actually Jewish. This came as a shock to me since we raised her as a Jew and is well-versed in the traditions of Judaism. Hence, my question is, what needs to be done at this point in order for her to accepted as 100% Jewish? Does she need to convert?

The First Temple was built by King Solomon and was the most important place in ancient Judaism. It was destroyed when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 586 ...

On Monday the Jerusalem District Court sentenced 30-year-old Sabar Kashour to 18-months in prison after he told a Jewish woman that he too was Jewish before they had consensual sex. When it was later revealed that Kashour was a married Arab man the woman called the police. The case ended up in court where Kashour was convicted of rape and ordered to pay NIS 10,000 (about $2,800) to the woman as compensation.

The town of Dothan, Alabama is offering Jewish families $50,000 to move to the town in an effort to revive a once thriving Jewish community.

"Dothan was just like so many small towns in the South that had thriving Jewish communities in the 1800s and the 1900s," said Rob Goldsmith, who runs the Family Relocation Project, but since then the Jewish population has withered and synagogue members are mostly elderly.

Earlier this week a Knesset committee advanced the Rotem Conversion Bill, which proposes to give the Orthodox rabbinate control of all conversions in Israel - and, by extension, control over Jewish births, marriages and deaths. If passed, the bill would undermine the authority of rabbis from the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel, where they have already been struggling for recognition. "[This bill] sets us back 20 years" said Rabbi Steven Wernick, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, adding that the bill "delegitimizes most of North American Jewry" and raises the issue of "who has the authority to determine someone's Jewish identity."

BoingBoing recently linked to this video of a Holocaust survivor, his daughter and his grandchildren dancing to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" at various concentration camps and Holocaust memorials in Europe. "This dance is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit and a celebration of life," reads the introductory text for the video, "Despite the systematic brutality and cruelty endured, we have still survived.

Women of the Wall (WoW) leader Anat Hoffman was arrested in Jerusalem yesterday for carrying a Torah scroll while praying at the Western Wall. Dozens of women met at the wall to commemorate the beginning of the month of Av, however, by carrying a Torah scroll Hoffman violated a court order prohibiting women from reading Torah at the Western Wall. "This is another example of the ultra-Orthodox establishment imposing its stances on the public," a spokeswoman for the group said in a recent Forward article. According to ultra-Orthodox Judaism, women are not allowed to read from the Torah.

Every week my friend Barbara Sofer shares a reflection about the parsha ha'shevuah (weekly Torah portion) on her Facebook page. They always give me something to think about so I asked her if I could share some of them with you and she graciously gave me permission. Barbara is an award-winning writer and lecturer who writes a bi-weekly column for the Friday Jerusalem Post. Below is her reflection this week as well as a link to our Torah portion: Parashat Matot-Masei (Numbers 30:2 - 36:13).

A video of Israeli soldiers dancing to Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" was posted on YouTube over the weekend, where it quickly went viral before being removed. It has since reappeared and shows six soldiers breaking into a choreographed dance routine while on patrol in Hebron. Originally posted under the title "Battalion 50 Rock the Hebron Casbah," the re-posted video is titled "It's easy to laugh at the occupation when you're the oppressor (and a douchebag)."

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