by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2022 | Kedoshim
Chapter 19 of Leviticus introduces agricultural-based charity: When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit...
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...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 24, 2022 | Faith, Holiness, Israel, Messiah, Mishpatim, Shabbat
The Shemittah comes every seven years, making it a form of Sabbath that occurs on a yearly, rather than a weekly, cycle. Observing the Shemittah acknowledges that the land of Israel belongs to the God of Israel. We work the land for six years, and on the seventh, we...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 16, 2022 | Hebrew Language, Israel, Kedoshim, Tu B'shvat
Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for the Trees, is considered a minor festival in Judaism. There is no reference to the holiday of Tu B’Shevat in the Bible, but the Mishna (Rosh Hashana 1:1) notes that there are four distinctive New Years in the Jewish calendar:...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 28, 2021 | Community, Israel, Job, Tu B'shvat
Despite not being specifically mentioned in the Bible, Tu B’Shvat has Biblical implications and, as the holiday that connects Jews to the land, has become massively popular in modern Israel. Tu B’Shvat is so named because it falls on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew...
