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Deuteronomy 6:4–9, 11:13–21, all of which mention the commandment. In the hand-tefillin, these are all written on one scroll, but in the head-tefillin each has its own scroll and compartment. (
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Chavrusa is a traditional rabbinic approach to Talmudic study in which a pair of students analyze, discuss, and debate a shared text. It is a primary learning method in yeshivas and kollels, where students often engage regular study partners of similar knowledge and ability, and is also practiced by men and boys outside the yeshiva setting, in work, home and vacation settings. The traditional phrase is to learn b'chavrusa (i.e., in partnership); the word has come by metonymy to refer to the study partner as an individual, though it would more logically describe the pair.
Unlike a teacher-student relationship, in which the student memorizes and repeats the material back in tests, chavrusa-style learning puts each student in the position of analyzing the text, organizing his thoughts into logical arguments, explaining his reasoning to his partner, hearing out his partner's reasoning, and questioning and sharpening each other's ideas, often arriving at entirely new insights into the meaning of the text. While chavrusa-style learning is traditionally practiced by men and boys, it has become popular in women's yeshivas that study Talmudic texts. In recent times, it has een extended to telephone and internet hookups in which partners study Talmud as well as other traditional Jewish texts. (Read more...)
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Tanakh and
Talmud, Shemini Atzeret is somewhat connected to the festival of
Sukkot, which it directly follows. At the same time, it is considered to be a separate festival in its own right. Outside the land of Israel, this is further complicated by the
additional day
The celebration of Simchat Torah is the most distinctive feature of the holiday, but it is a later rabbinical innovation. In Israel, the celebrations of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined on a single day. In the Diaspora, the celebration of Simchat Torah is deferred to the second day of the holiday. Commonly, only the first day is referred to as Shemini Atzeret, while the second is called Simchat Torah. The holiday also features the prayers Yizkor and Geshem. (Read more...)
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Kvitel refers to a practice developed by Hasidic Judaism in which a Hasid writes a note with a petitionary prayer and gives it to a Rebbe (Hasidic leader) in order to receive the latter's blessing. This prayer may be a general request for health, livelihood, or success, or a specific request such as recovery from illness, the ability to bear children, a wedding match, etc. The writing, giving and reading of a kvitel is treated very seriously by Hasid and Rebbe alike, and is executed according to specific protocols. Because of their inherent sanctity, kvitelach may not be thrown away after use; they are either burned or buried.
The practice of giving kvitelach continues today in all the Hasidic courts. Kvitelach are also placed on the graves of Rebbes and
Heaven
.
It is a centuries-old custom for Jews to place kvitelach containing personal prayers to God between the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This practice has been also adopted by Christian pilgrims and foreign dignitaries as well. More than a million prayer notes are placed in the Western Wall each year. (Read more...)
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The Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the
Temple Mount. It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the
Jewish Temple's courtyard, and is perhaps the most sacred site recognized by the Jewish faith outside of the Temple Mount itself. Just over half the wall, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the
Second Temple period. Constructed around 19 BCE by
Herod the Great, the works were probably not finished during his lifetime. The remaining layers were added from the 7th century onwards. The Western Wall refers not only to the exposed section facing a large plaza in the Jewish Quarter, but also to the sections concealed behind structures running along the whole length of the Temple Mount, such as the
Little Western Wall
It has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries; the earliest source mentioning Jewish attachment to the site dates back to the 4th century. From the mid-19th century onwards, various Jews tried, without success, to purchase rights to the wall. In the early 20th century, the wall became a source of friction between the Jewish community and the Muslim religious leadership, and outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the wall came under Jordanian control and Jews were barred from the site for 19 years until Israel recaptured the Old City Six-Day War in 1967. (Read more...)
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Joseph and his two sons
Ephraim and
Manasseh. Joseph's tomb has been venerated throughout the ages by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Post-biblical records about the Tomb's location at this site date from the 4th century. The present structure, a small rectangular room with a
cenotaph
Joseph's Tomb has witnessed intense sectarian conflict. Samaritans and Christians disputing access and title to the site in the early Byzantine period often clashed violently. After Israel captured the
Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, just after being handed over to the PNA, it was looted and razed by a Palestinian mob. Following Israel's reoccupation of Nablus in the 2002
Operation Defensive Shield, Jewish groups returned there intermittently. Recently the structure has been refurbished, with a new cupola installed, and visits by Jewish worshipers have resumed. (
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East Bay. Its early members included
Gertrude Stein and
Judah Leon Magnes, who studied at Temple Sinai's Sabbath school, and
Ray Frank, who taught them. Originally traditional, under the leadership of
Rabbi Marcus Friedlander (1893–1915) Temple Sinai reformed its beliefs and practices. By 1914, it had become a
Classical Reform congregation. That year the current sanctuary was built, a
Beaux-Arts structure designed by
G. Albert Lansburgh which is the oldest
synagogue in Oakland. The congregation weathered four major financial crises by 1934. It has since been led by just three rabbis, William Stern (1934–1965), Samuel Broude (1966–1989), and Steven Chester (1989–present). In 2006 Temple Sinai embarked on a $15 million capital campaign to construct an entirely new synagogue campus adjacent to its current sanctuary.
Groundbreaking took place in October 2007, and by late 2009 the congregation had raised almost $12 million towards the construction. As of 2010
[update], the Temple Sinai had nearly 1,000 member families. The rabbis were Steven Chester, Jacqueline Mates-Muchin, and Andrea Berlin, and the
hazzan was Ilene Keys. (
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bar mitzvah there in 1913, and long-time
Goldman Sachs head
Sidney Weinberg was married there in 1920. Membership peaked in the 1920s, but with the onset of the
Great Depression declined steadily, and by the 1970s the congregation could no longer afford to heat the sanctuary. Membership has recovered since that low point; the congregation renovated its school/community center in 2004, and in 2008 embarked on a million-dollar capital campaign to renovate the sanctuary. (
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Civil Rights era. In 1976 the congregation constructed its current building, closer to where most members lived. Wax retired in 1978, and was succeeded by Harry Danziger, who brought traditional practices back to the congregation. He retired in 2000, and was succeeded by Micah Greenstein. As of 2010
[update], Temple Israel has almost 1,600 member families. Greenstein is the senior rabbi, and the cantor is John Kaplan. (
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Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1861 as a more liberal breakaway from
Congregation Baith Israel, in its first 65 years it attempted four mergers with other congregations, including three with Baith Israel, all of which failed. The congregation completed its current
Classical Revival synagogue building in 1910 and its "Jewish Deco" (
Romanesque Revival and
Art Deco) Temple House in 1929. The congregation went through difficult times during the
Great Depression, and the bank almost foreclosed on its buildings in 1946. Membership dropped significantly in the 1930s because of the Depression, and again in the 1970s as a result of demographic shifts. Programs for young children helped draw Jewish families back into the neighborhood and revitalize the membership. By 2006 Beth Elohim had over 1000 members, and, as of 2008, it was the largest Reform congregation in Brooklyn, the "oldest Brooklyn congregation that continues to function under its corporate name", and its pulpit was the oldest in continuous use in any Brooklyn synagogue. (
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Hebrew language, a
Canaanite Semitic language spoken in the area known as
Canaan between the
Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea. Biblical Hebrew is attested from about the 10th century BCE, and persisted through the
Second Temple period (ending in 70 CE). Biblical Hebrew eventually developed into
Mishnaic Hebrew, which was spoken until the 2nd century CE. Biblical Hebrew is best-attested in the
Hebrew Bible, a document which reflects various stages of the Hebrew language in its
consonantal skeleton, as well as a
vocalic system which was added later, in the Middle Ages. There is also some evidence of regional dialectal variation, including differences between Biblical Hebrew as spoken in the northern
Kingdom of Israel and in the southern
Kingdom of Judah
Biblical Hebrew has been written with a number of different writing systems. The Hebrews adopted the
Aramaic script gradually displaced the Paleo-Hebrew script for the Jews, and it became the source for the modern
Hebrew alphabet. All of these scripts were lacking letters to represent all of the sounds of Biblical Hebrew, though these sounds are reflected in Greek and Latin transcriptions of the time. (
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The Simon Maccabeus during this struggle. The exact location of the Acra, critical to understanding Hellenistic Jerusalem, remains a matter of ongoing discussion. Historians and archaeologists have proposed various sites around Jerusalem, relying mainly on conclusions drawn from literary evidence. This approach began to change in the light of excavations which commenced in the late 1960s. New discoveries have prompted reassessments of the ancient literary sources, Jerusalem's geography and previously discovered artifacts. Yoram Tsafrir has interpreted a masonry joint in the southeastern corner of the
Temple Mount platform as a clue to the Acra's possible position. During
Benjamin Mazar's 1968 and 1978 excavations adjacent to the south wall of the Mount, features were uncovered which may have been connected with the Acra, including barrack-like rooms and a huge
cistern. (
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Deuteronomy. Their details and practical application, however, are set down in the
Oral Torah (eventually codified in the
Mishnah and
Talmud) and elaborated on in the later rabbinical literature. While the Torah does not state the rationale for most
kashrut laws, many reasons have been suggested, including philosophical, practical and hygienic. Presently, about a sixth of
American Jews fully keep kosher, and many more abstain from some non-kosher foods, especially pork. Kashrut is also kept by some non-Jews, often for health reasons. (
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Member of Parliament. He was the NDP's leader from 1971 to 1975. After his defeat in the 1974 Canadian election, he retired from politics. He spent his last years as a university professor and a newspaper travel correspondent. In retirement, he was named to the highest level of the
Order of Canada for his political service. After a lengthy battle with cancer, he died in 1981. (
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Hill and Wang. Fifty years later it is regarded as one of the bedrocks of
Holocaust literature. It is the first book in a trilogy—
Night,
Dawn,
Day—marking Wiesel's transition from darkness to light, according to the Jewish tradition of beginning a new day at nightfall. "In
Night," he said, "I wanted to show the end, the finality of the event. Everything came to an end—man, history, literature, religion, God. There was nothing left. And yet we begin again with night." (
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