Nissan and Tishrei are arguably the most well-known Hebrew months because of Pesach and Rosh ha-Shanah; others like Tish’a b-Av, the 9th of Av, are known by their date, like the 4th of July. As we begin the fourth book of the Torah — B-midbar / Numbers...

Mourning the loss of a loved one can be overwhelming. For mourners tasked with planning a shiva, the added burden of preparing to host visitors immediately after the funeral can be too much to bear. Plus, even at the best of times, it can be challenging...

(JTA) — With the conclusion of Passover last month, we now find ourselves in the period of the Jewish calendar known as the Omer, the 49-day span between the Exodus from Egypt marked on Passover and the giving of the Torah celebrated on Shavuot, which...

If there is one Jewish song known by Jews and non-Jews alike, it is undoubtedly Hava Nagila (הבה נגילה), which is Hebrew for “let us rejoice.” From its obscure origins in early 20th-century Palestine, the song has gone on to become a perennial...

Borsalino. The word rolls off the tongue. Is it a pasta dish at Charlie Gitto’s? A high performance racecar? Or maybe a lake in Italy where George and Amal Clooney hang out? In reality, the Borsalino is an Italian hat, an imposing black, wide-brimmed...

I often dream about bridges. Very high ones, seemingly with questionable structural integrity. What do these mean? Dream analysis usually equates a disorienting height to an obstacle one may be facing. From the perspective of Jewish learning, the meaning...

The Shema is the centerpiece of the daily morning and evening prayer services and is considered by some the most essential prayer in all of Judaism. An affirmation of God’s singularity and kingship, its daily recitation is regarded by traditionally...

The religious philosopher Mircea Eliade speaks about religion as attempting to transform the chaos in our world into the cosmos. Essentially, he says that we take that which is unknown — that which can be different and scary — and try to make it known. We...

Researchers around the world are working on new reproductive technologies that are straight out of science fiction. But a leading bioethicist believes the question of whether Jews should make use of them is complicated. A recent New Yorker article...

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. For the past five years, Andrew Kaplan Mandel, a fifth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College Institute of Religion,...

This year, Passover begins on the eve of Wednesday, April 5th marking a celebration of freedom commemorating the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as told in the Exodus story of the Bible.  It is also a time of “teaching” in...

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...