Answers to Jewish Questions

There are lots of ways to say Happy Passover!

A lot of history and tradition resides in chocolate Hanukkah gelt.

Here are the appropriate greetings for Hanukkah.

Sukkot, the Jewish festival of booths (a harvest holiday of thanksgiving), begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei.

Here are the appropriate greetings for the Jewish new year and the Day of Atonement.

Since the Rabbinic period, Shavuot has been tied to the story of receiving the Torah. Connected to this, Shavuot has come to be dedicated to the idea of Torah study and Jewish education. One custom is an all-night [or late night] study session held on the first evening of the...

As joyous as the holiday is, it is also a time for serious reflection on the duties of a Jew toward their community, particularly in a post-Holocaust world. The day before the holiday is a minor fast day, the Fast of Esther, timed to coincide with Esther’s own fast on...

Tu BiShvat is a minor festival whose provenance dates only to the time of the Second Temple. However, the kabbalists who clustered around the great fifteenth-century mystic Isaac Luria of Safed placed great weight on the holiday, creating new festivities, gatherings at which hymns were sung, fruit (particularly carob) was eaten, and four cups of wine were taken (as in the Passover seder).

Tu BiShvat, called the "New Year of the Trees," falls at a seemingly incongruous time of year.