on What is the video about? (Don’t worry about the name of the town or the rabbis!) The video is about helping and giving to others, especially if you are fortunate enough to have everyday necessities. The people who don’t have as much, are often the ones that are more willing to help others and give. What… Continue Reading Avoiding the Mud – A Chasidic Jewish Folktale
on Maya Graupe and Sean Gray made a slideshow with pictures about Chayeh Sarah.
on Every day you head into the Beit Midrash, and mindlessly grab a Siddur from the shelf. You (hopefully) turn the pages and follow along. You don’t think about the Siddur’s history, only about the food that will be served during the luncheon. You just assume that the ancient rabbis assembled Siddurs and they have been… Continue Reading A prayer book history
on You may have been at the Yom Hazikaron Ceremony, and heard the amazing glee club sing. The MJDS glee club was singing the song Shir Lashalom in memory of Yitzhak Rabin. When Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated he had the song Shir Lashalom in his pocket they found it covered in blood. Glee club is one… Continue Reading Glee Club
on This is another very full parsha. Sarah dies first and caps off her life, thus the name Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah). Abraham then buries her in the cave of Machpelah which he purchased from a Hittite. Then Abraham sends Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. Eliezer brings a bunch of camels and… Continue Reading Parsha of the Week – Chayei Sarah
on Bar And Bat Mitzvah 101 In 1922, Judith Kaplan was the first public Bat Mitzvah in a synagogue in America At the age of 12 or 13 for a girl and 13 for a boy is when you become an adult in jewish law. When you turn 12 or 13 on your hebrew birthday, you… Continue Reading Bar Bat Mitzvah 101
on I don’t understand our past. It’s all jumbled. It’s like a story that someone told to one person and that person heard it wrong then told someone else then told someone else the totally wrong story and then it turns into a big misunderstanding. But it’s from our history, so everybody believes it! If “G-d”… Continue Reading Why I struggle believing in “G-D” and our Jewish past
on Parshat Vayeira There is so much going on this week. First the three angels come to Abraham’s house and tells him he’s going to have a baby with Sarah. Then there is all that drama with Sodom where Abraham pleads with G-d to save the city. The city gets destroyed anyway but at least… Continue Reading Parsha of the Week
on Kabbalah teaches that the tallit garment is a metaphor for G‑d’s infinite transcendent light. The fringes allude to the immanent divine light which permeates every element of creation. By wearing a tallit gadol or a tallit katan, a Jew synthesizes these two elements and makes them real in his life. “Speak to the children of… Continue Reading Why do Some Jews Wear Tzitzit?
on I know, it’s a Jewish school. Still. Everyone has been talking about Halloween for the past month, so we might as well talk about it. Even if Halloween is technically a non Jewish holiday. Let’s be real. Halloween is technically prohibited in Jewish law. It states in the Torah that there shall be no Jewish… Continue Reading Halloween and Judaism