Yom Hashoah: Memorializing the Holocaust and the Heroism

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 28, 2022 | Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel

Yom HaShoah (Holocaust remembrance day) is commemorated worldwide each year on the 27th of Nisan as a day to honor the memories of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. If the 27th of Nisan is adjacent to the Shabbat (either Friday or Sunday), the date is...

The Yom Kippur Temple Service

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 25, 2022 | Acharei Mot, Holiness, Humility, Purity, Repentance, Shabbat, Temple, Yom Kippur

The Torah portion of Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16-18) describes the Temple service on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Bible mandates 15 specific sacrifices and many other rituals for Yom Kippur, or Yom HaKippurim, outlined in Leviticus chapter 16. The literal...

Mourning During the Omer

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 19, 2022 | Counting the Omer

There is nothing that is more joyous than being taken out of bondage by the hand of God. But immediately following the celebration of Passover, Jews enter the seven-week period of the Omer which is traditionally a period of austerity and even mourning. The reasons...

The Counting of the Omer

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 19, 2022 | Counting the Omer, Emor, Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost), Temple

On the night after the Passover Seder, the second night of Passover (the 16th of Nisan), Jews begin to perform the commandment of counting the seven complete weeks of the Omer which culminates in the pilgrimage festival of Shavuot on the 50th day. This commandment is...

The Priestly Blessing on the Intermediate Days of Passover

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 18, 2022 | Holiness, Naso, Passover, Prayer, Sukkot, Temple

Twice a year, during the intermediary days of Passover and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), a mass priestly blessing takes place at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem. This event is usually attended by tens of thousands of Jews who are blessed by hundreds of Kohanim...

Chol Hamoed: Sanctifying the Mundane

by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 18, 2022 | Bo, Passover, Sukkot

The holidays of Passover and Sukkot (Feat of Tabernacles) are seven days in Israel and eight days outside of Israel. The first day each and, on Passover, the last day (first two and last two outside of Israel) are full holidays during which, similar to Shabbat,...