The idea that a person or supernatural being can cause harm with a mere look — and the practices believed to ward it off. The “evil eye,” ayin ha’ra in Hebrew, is the idea that a person or ...
The Guide for the Perplexed tells us more about what God isn't than what God is. That also means that, in Aristotelian terms, one cannot actually say “God is . . .” and proceed to enumerate God’s ...
The link Maimonides found between confession and repentance. With regard to all the precepts of the Torah, both affirmative and negative, if a person transgresses any one of them, either willfully or ...
You've got a friend. The first litmus test asks whether the potential inductee observes all the practices expected of haverim or if there are lapses. There is a difference of opinion about people who ...
Silverware and stainless steelware can be made kosher through hag’alah [boiling]. The day before kashering, clean all the flatware and let it rest, unused, for 24 hours. Some flatware handles are made ...
Though Jews and Christians have had a complicated and tense relationship, relations today are better than ever. The latter half of the 20th century saw a wholesale re-evaluation of the Christian ...
Legal midrash on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. All of these midrashim are line-by-line commentaries that tease laws or clarifications of laws out of the biblical text. Like most midrashim, ...
On being a mensch — an upstanding member of society — and leading an ethical life. In the old days, proverbially, a boy would begin his bar mitzvah speech with the words, “Today I am a man.” What does ...
A Jewish prayer that asks for a safe journey. The Traveler’s Prayer — also known as the Wayfarer’s Prayer or Tefilat Haderech in Hebrew — is a prayer said at the onset of a journey. It is customary to ...
As the herald of the messianic age and a recurring figure in Jewish folklore, Elijah's legacy surpasses that of virtually all the other prophets of Israel. Elijah is a biblical prophet and a central ...
Blintzes are an iconic and beloved Eastern European Jewish food — thinly cooked pancakes (crepes) filled with potato, vegetables or cheese. There is no shortage of ways to make them — sweet, savory, ...
How and why Ukraine was arguably the most important cradle for early Zionists. The same is true for literature: Hayim Nahman Bialik, Zionism’s great poet, and Shmuel Yosef Agnon, the greatest modern ...
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