Shabbes
Yiddish and Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation for Shabbat (Sabbath).
Tu BiShvat
"15th of Shevat;" New Year of the Trees; Jewish Arbor Day, which is a minor festival.
tzedakah box
Container for collecting money for charitable purposes. It is customary to place money in a tzedakah box prior to candlelighting in the home.
What Was Golden about the Golden Calf?
The story of the Golden Calf has so seared itself into our consciousness that it has become one of the prime acts of apostasy in the Jewish story.
The Laws Behind the Laws
Ask your average Jew-on-the street (well educated or not) for the five most important or famous texts of the Torah, and she will certainly include the Ten Commandments.
Courage, Convictions, and Leadership
Exodus, Chapter 32 begins with these words: “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain . . . ” (Exodus 32:1). It’s a strange turn of phrase. What was it that they saw?
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest of Them All?
This week’s double Torah portion, Vayak’heil and P’kudei, is very familiar because much in it repeats what we read several weeks ago.