Archive for the 'Judaism Guide' Category

Olmert firm on Israel recognition

Any peace process with the Palestinians depends on their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, Ehud Olmert said.

The Israeli prime minister met E.U. foreign policy official Javier Solana on Wednesday for consultations ahead of the U.S.-hosted peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which has …

Israeli forces kill 4 in Gaza

Israeli forces killed at least four Palestinians during anti-rocket operations in the northern Gaza Strip.

The air force and ground troops went into action Sunday after Palestinian terrorists fired three rockets into Israel from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

An air strike killed three…

Leviticus (Vayikra)

There are 613 commandments which are described in the Five Books. Of those, 246 appear in Leviticus. That’s a big chunk of the Torah. Dozens of these Mitzvos might seem to be very strange, as most of them are impossible to perform in our generation.
Which Mitzvos are in this book? Mainly the numer…

Exodus (Shemos)

Shemos can be divided into two sections:

Nation-building
Tabernacle building.

Nation Building:

It’s probably fair to say that the account of the Egyptians’ enslavement of the family of Jacob; the devastating ten plagues; the exodus from Egypt; the escape into the desert and through th…

Genesis (Bereishis)

This book begins with…the Beginning. The creation of the world, the animals, and the first human beings, is described in this book. Creation is told terms that hint at much more than a simple history story. Behind every word and every grammatical nuance might lie the deepest of secrets. The sto…

What is the Oral Torah?

As mentioned earlier, there are two “Torahs”: the Written and the Oral. In Jewish tradition, both were given to Moses at Mt. Sinai and during the forty years in the desert, and taught to the whole nation. [In fact, when Judaism says “G-d gave the Torah to Moses at Sinai” it is talking only about …

What does the word Torah refer to?

The Torah is the center of it all. It is the axis around which the whole of Judaism revolves. If you want to know the Jewish approach to any issue; if you want to define who the Jewish people are; if you want to taste and smell and feel Judaism - for all of these, you look in the Torah.

But …

Elul, Month of Opportunity

The month of Elul distinguishes itself in the Jewish calendar by being the last month of the Jewish year. As with many businesses, the year-end is a time for self-examination: how were goals met, where what were the failings and successes? Elul is a time of personal stocktaking; how well did we fare…

Women are important !

Women are important and the Jewish men value their role as a wife, mother, and grandmother very highly.  The woman plays a very active role in the household and the teachings of their children.  Those who believe in following the Torah must put their feelings aside and see their life through the e…

The “Maftir”, the “Haftarah”

The “Maftir”, the “Haftarah,” and the Special Day, the Eighth day of Chanukah, link the Mishkan, “ the First Temple, and the Second Temple.  The prayers of all the Prophets and our own Pray for the “Bayit Shlishi,” the Third Temple, to build by the “Mashiach”  in  Jerusalem “s…

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