Post The Biblical Symbolism Of Passover Foods The home-based Passover service, known as the Passover Seder, is brimming with Biblical symbolism. Seder is the Hebrew word for order, alluding to the idea that God runs the world in… Read More
Post The Counting of the Omer 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… Read More
Post The Fast of the Firstborn On the eve of Passover, firstborn sons fast from sunrise to sunset in commemoration of the salvation of the Israelite firstborns during the Plague of the Firstborn in Egypt. Unlike all… Read More
Post The Four Cups of Wine At the Passover Seder, Jews are obligated to drink four cups of wine while leaning to the left. The Mishnah (Pesachim 10:1) states that even the poor are obliged to… Read More
Post The “Great Sabbath” The Shabbat that precedes Pesach (Passover) is called ‘Shabbat HaGadol’ (the big/great Sabbath). There are several reasons for this. According to Jewish tradition, the first Shabbat HaGadol was the last… Read More
Post The Omer Wave Offering The Omer, a biblical measurement of approximately 43 ounces, refers to the wave offering of barley that was brought to the Temple along with a sacrifice of a lamb. Before… Read More
Post The Passover Haggadah The Haggadah is the guidebook for the Passover seder. Haggadah literally means ‘the telling’ and, as its name implies, the main point of the evening is to tell the story… Read More
Post The Priestly Blessing on the Intermediate Days of Passover 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… Read More
Post The Ritual Bath: A Spiritual Rebirth In modern times, we rarely think of the state of our spiritual purity. We can go into a synagogue, travel where we want, handle fruits and vegetables and sit on… Read More
Post The Status of the Menstruant Woman When a woman has her menstrual period she becomes ritually impure. The Torah laws concerning this (referred to as the laws of niddah) are the basis of family purity, one… Read More