The Sabbath, a Day of Waste?

The Sabbath, a Day of Waste?

By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz Psalm 29 (The Israel Bible, pp. 1503-1504) is special in a deep way. Even though it is only 11 verses, it contains the name of God 18 times. 18 is an auspicious number in Judaism. The gematria (numerical value) of 18 equals chai (×—×™), meaning...
The “Great Sabbath”

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 Shabbat that the Jews were in Egypt. This fell on the tenth of...
The Blessing of the New Month

The Blessing of the New Month

The Shabbat which precedes Rosh Chodesh (new month), the beginning of a Hebrew month, is referred to as Shabbat Mevorchim, or the Shabbat when we bless. On this Shabbat a special prayer is recited after the Torah is read but before the Torah scroll is returned to the...