What’s the most important part of Passover? Matzah? Wine? Haggadah? Aunt Tilly’s gefilte fish? Freedom from slavery is awesome. But despite the lines of the Haggadah song “dayenu,” the freedom would not have meant very much without the Torah....
Naso is the longest portion in the weekly readings of Torah with 176 verses. After detailing the priestly purpose in the book of Leviticus, we come to the Book of Numbers and guess what? The first two portions begin with a census. Naso begins with an...
It may be the deadliest season on Mt. Everest yet, but the highest peak in the world found a hero in Israeli climber Nadav Ben Yehuda. Ben Yehuda, 24, was less than 1,000 feet from the top when he spotted unconscious Turkish climber Aydin Irmak sprawled...
By Margi Lenga Kahn, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published May 23, 2012
Shavuot commemorates the day the Jewish people received the Torah. We mark this holiday in a number of ways: studying Torah, celebrating the year’s first harvest, and enjoying a festive dairy meal. And whether your festive menu includes blintzes,...
Torah MiTzion Kollel and Bais Abraham are holding a farewell party for the family of Gilat and Assi Gastfraind, who have served as Israeli emissaries (shlichim) in St. Louis since July 2009. The event will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May...
By Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, JTA
• Published May 22, 2012
JERUSALEM — Unlike other Jewish holidays, the Torah does not specify a date for Shavuot; it is celebrated on the 50th day (seven weeks) after Passover. We moderns celebrate Shavuot on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in ancient times, when...
LOS ANGELES -- Are the Ten Commandments only to be heard but not seen? And when they are seen, how should they look? Some groups, notably the Anti-Defamation League, believe that public images of the Ten Commandments should be scarce. “That the increasing...
BY RABBI CARNIE SHALOM ROSE
• Published May 16, 2012
“The act of revelation is a mystery, while the record of revelation is a literary fact, phrased in the language of [the hu]man.”— Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, God In Search Of ManAs a Rabbi, I never cease to be amazed by the questions posed by...
The mere mention of Shavuot sends images of cheesecakes before my eyes and calling my name. I love cheesecakes and they love me — so much they plant themselves on my hips forever.On the two-day festival, which this year begins on the evening of May...
Chabad centers will be offering a triple-header of holiday fun with three Shavuot celebrations taking place throughout the St. Louis region on Shavuot, Sunday, May 27. The celebrations are open to the entire community, regardless of affiliation or background....
BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
• Published May 16, 2012
Participation in the 33rd Annual St. Louis Senior Olympics spans the generations from the Baby Boomers to the Greatest Generation, ranging from hordes of 50-year-olds who finally reached the qualifying age to pairings of parents and their grown children...
SHAVUOT FEATURE NEW YORK -- Observing my kids playing, I notice how the same toy, no matter how many times they play with it, can reveal the most remarkable things. My daughter, with the vocabulary befitting a 1 1/2-year-old, will bring her ball over...
