Have you ever opened a book that was so technical and so outside your realm of understanding that you found it difficult to get through? Like the words were all in English, but you were reading without understanding a thing?  For many people, this perfectly...

It almost seems cruel that National Puppy Day (March 23rd) takes place around the same time as the Jewish holiday where people sell their pets. Yes, you read that right. On the holiday of Passover, some Jews will sell their adorable, snuggly, always-ready-for-a-game-of-fetch...

You know that line in Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” about seeing a beautiful woman bathing on the roof? He was referencing the biblical story of David and Batsheva. Cohen got a few details wrong — David was the one on the roof, actually — but...

By Jewish standards, the question “Why study Torah” is a very new one. For a couple of millennia, studying Torah was just a given for male Jews. Of course you’d learn it — or at least read it in bite-sized chunks every Shabbat in synagogue,...

From the ages of about five until around I was eleven, my favorite place in the world was the Scholastic Book Fair. For a moment, nothing in the world felt as important as a book. One of my favorites that I bought at the fair was called “Drop Everything,...

If you haven’t heard of Yalta yet, it’s okay – many people haven’t. But as the second most mentioned woman in the Talmud, Yalta does deserve more fame, especially as her daring escapades left many speechless. Often described as the ‘first Jewish...

Purim, or the Feast of Lots, is a joyous holiday that recounts the saving of the Jews from a threatened massacre during the Persian period (539-330 BCE). The story of Purim is recounted in the Book of Esther, whose eponymous heroine plays the leading...

The Book of Esther, also known as the Megillah, is the story commemorating the saving of the Jewish people from Haman in the ancient Persian Empire. Esther was a young Jewish woman living in the Persian diaspora who finds favor with the king,...

If you are a person who values attention to detail in the clothes that you wear, then Parshat Tetzaveh is the portion for you. In this week’s portion, we find an elaborate description of what Aaron, Moses’ brother, is commanded to wear when he...

Purim starts at sundown March 6, which means it’s time to get your best costumes ready, rehearse for the spiel, and of course, plan what to put in your mishloach manot, Purim gift baskets. Aside from being among the two most fun Hebrew words to...

The carnivalesque Jewish holiday of Purim celebrates a tale of Jewish survival in the face of near genocide masterminded by the megalomaniac villain of the piece, Haman. The holiday is celebrated with a public reading of the Purim story as well as costumes, plays, carnivals, feasting,...