A Jewish Artist Asks: What Are Prayers Made Of?Presents various designs of tallit katan, a traditional Jewish prayer shawl. Materials used for the shawl; View of the author on making tallit katan.GottliebBobChronicle of Higher Education
When you arrive at the mikveh, if you are coming for one of the reasons mandated by Jewish law, you most likely will not go straight to the ritual bath. Instead, you will be assigned a private preparation room, essentially a large bathroom complete with a bathtub, shower, sink, and toil...
Learn the most common Jewish prayers and blessings.Shehecheyanu The Jewish Blessing for Firsts There’s a lot of emphasis in Judaism on stopping to recognize special moments. Some do this in the form of a prayer or a blessing for the first time they are doing something new. Take a ...
What are Rosh Hashanah prayers? Theprayer services for Rosh Hashanahare very long and last several hours. Unlike through most of the year, the hazzan's (cantor's) repetition of the Shmona Esrei do not word-for-word repeat the same prayers. Rather, the repetition is much longer, includes ...
A Christian teenager wrote me about the problems he has with his parents because he wants to become Jewish. Here is his letter and my answer with my advice on the subject. Non-Orthodox Conversions: Are They Valid?” Some Fundamentals. What conversions are valid? Other requirements. Isn’t ...
Their 2019 conference led to a call for papers, some of which ended up in the book.While many Jewish Phish fans are secular, the book includes essays from devotees of the band who are more observant and often must reconcile the timing of shows with that of Shabbat. Religious services...
The sages added that the heartfelt prayers of the sick themselves – even the wordless cries of a baby – are most impactful in heaven. As these stories indicate, no set text is necessary to beseech God. Using psalms for praying to heal the sick ...
Well I asked the question "What are the secrets of Masons?" Intriguing question, wouldn't you say? I've really thought hard on this question; I've asked myself a lot of times; what are our secrets? I've studied the ritual, and the manual and done some deep digging in the Scottish...
While most commonly associated with the destruction of the First and Second Temples, Tisha B'Av actually marks a number of calamities throughout Jewish history. Chronologically, the first such tragedy is believed to have been the sin of the spies. According to some traditions, the day that the...
For some, denial can take minutes; for others, decades. The fact that grieving has no fixed timetable can be very frustrating for those surrounding the mourner. Jewish tradition dictates that the official mourning period following a parent's death is one year (or, more precisely, twelve ...