by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 2, 2021 | Chanukah, Kings, Temple
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that is not mentioned in the Bible. Its name means ‘dedication,’ and it commemorates the eight-day rededication of the Second Temple by the Hasmoneans that took place at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 2, 2021 | Chanukah
Everyone knows that Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights celebrated by the lighting of candles. But there is so much more to the holiday that makes it an eight-day family event. Lighting the Menorah Lighting the nine-branched menorah is not just a tradition. It is a...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 1, 2021 | Kings, Ninth of Av, Temple
The Arch of Titus, constructed in 81 CE by Emperor Domitian to commemorate the victory over the Jewish rebellion in Judaea, stands on the Via Sacra in Rome to this day, bearing witness to the fact that the Romans carried away the golden Menorah from the Second Temple...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 30, 2021 | Chanukah, Kislev, Temple, Tetzaveh
The holiday of Hanukkah is most famously identified with the story of the miracle of the single cruse of pure olive oil that burned for eight days. The story of Hanukkah does not appear in the Bible but it is told in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b). The story begins in...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 27, 2021 | Prayer, Sukkot
According to Jewish tradition, Sukkot is one of four Judgment Days during the year, and on the festival, God determines the world’s water allocation for the coming year. In ancient times, life and death hinged directly on the amount of rainfall that fell in Israel,...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 26, 2021 | Sukkot, Tishrei
Every day during Sukkot, Jews sing Psalm 117, yearning for the day when all of the Nations will praise Hashem. Psalm 117 is part of the “Hallel” service that Jews recite on the festivals. While Sukkot commemorates the miraculous protection God provided the Children of...
